Please Don't Hurt Me
by Silva Bramley
Summary: All she wanted was an adventure, but what will happen when she actually gets it? InoxGaara, AU.
1. Prolouge

Stepping back in to my room, I crossed it quickly and flung myself on my bed. As soon as my body touched the bed, I crawled beneath the covers. Finding solace in the cocoon of warm blankets, I began to cry freely.

I felt the mattress of my bed sink, signaling to me that someone had sat down on the side of my bed. My tears halted as I listened intently to discover who it was. There was a pat on my blanket covered head and a soothing, familiar voice.

"Ino, I told you it wasn't a good idea."

That one sentence told me many things. First off, it told me, by the voice, that it was Shikamaru. Second off, it told me that he was alone in the room. He would never dare call me Ino in presence of someone else. Also, by the sound of his voice, he felt sorry for me, and he wasn't gloating that he was right.

I pulled the blanket down to my nose, and peered at him. He was right, I should have listened to him. Now I felt committed. Now I felt the pain of the truth. Now I felt…unworthy of my title.

"Shikamaru, how come I didn't know that was going on?" I asked, quietly. I watched as his face changed, from pity and concern, to a look I couldn't discern.

"Your Father was only shielding you," He answered, keeping his voice low as well. It wouldn't do neither of us good to have someone walk in at the present moment. Shikamaru was sitting by me on my bed, I was crying. It was quite compromising in my Father's eyes. Not to mention, if my Father were to find out what I had seen today, he wouldn't be happy.

"Speaking of my Father, it wouldn't do us any good for somebody to find us…like this," I said, gesturing at our bodies, both on the bed's mattress. Shikamaru nodded, and quickly maneuvered off the bed.

"Why would my Father want to shield me? Don't I need to know these things?" I asked Shikamaru. I looked out the window that I had just climbed through, before glancing back at him.

"Your Father sees you as a delicate thing, he probably thought it'd be too much for you to handle, troublesome as it is," Shikamaru said. I wiped my eyes, which were still damp from crying, and sniffed.

"I'm not delicate, and it didn't do much good, I still found out," I said, defending myself from my Father's accusations. Shikamaru smiled weakly.

"Of course you're not delicate, that's just what he believes," Shikamaru said, aiding my defenses

"Oh, Shikamaru, it was horrible," I said, knowing that what I had just seen would haunt my dreams. He nodded and I knew that he had seen that, he might have even endured it before he came here to work for my Father.

"Ino, you should change back into your normal clothes," He said, pointing down at my currant apparel. He was right, if anyone saw me in these clothes, it would cause them to ask unneeded questions that would rise problems. I nodded, and he quickly stepped out of the room to give me my needed privacy.

I stood up, and walked over to the large mirror in my room. It was strange how clothes could change what I looked like entirely. I sighed and changed into my normal clothes. Glancing back into the mirror, and turning a few times, I found that I looked the same as before. But I felt different.

"Lady Ino? It's time to dine," I turned to nod at the maid.

"I'll be right along," I said, looking back in the mirror one last time, checking to make sure that nothing had changed. That there was no sign of what I had witnessed. Finding none, I turned away from the mirror and walked out the door. Would I be able to hide my new found knowledge when I faced my Father at this now impending meal? I wasn't so confident that I would succeed.


	2. Mysterious Things Afoot

**Chapter 1: Mysterious Things Afoot  
**_(In which the Princess discovers there is in fact some sort of exciting secret in the castle)_

I probably shouldn't have gone, but at least I know now. I was no longer in the dark. I had the knowledge, the truth. It was hard to believe that my father would withhold something so important from me.

To think that a couple of days ago, I had no idea. That a couple of days ago, I was clueless of what was going on just outside the castle walls.

That's when it had all started…a couple of days ago…

"Oh, Lady Ino, you are up early," the maid said, obviously surprised to see me up at such an hour.

"I just wanted to watch the sun rise, care to join me?" I asked. The maid studied me for a few minutes before nodding and joining me on the balcony. Usually a person of my status wouldn't be so friendly with the maids, but it tended to get lonely here so I survived the only way I knew how: talking to everybody who had ears to listen.

We watched the sun rise over the horizon, it was extremely enchanting. It was the most beautiful thing, pinks mixed with oranges and reds. I studied the natural phenomenon as the early morning rays warmed my face.

"Is it even more beautiful outside of the castle?" I turned to face the maid when she didn't answer me right away. She looked nervous, and this made me curious.

"Uhm…well…, I better go…I don't want to get in trouble…I've been here too long," The maid said, leaving quickly. I watched her leave with raised eyebrows. She wouldn't be in any trouble if I gave my pardon. I would definitely mention this curious behavior to Shikamaru, he always had the answers.

I put my face in my hand and leaned against the railing, continuing to ponder this, until there was a knock on my door.

"Yes?" I called, still sitting on my balcony.

"Princess Ino, we are here to dress you for the day," came a muffled voice through the door.

"Come in," I called back. I stood up and made my way back into my room.

Amid the flurry of cloth and buttons, my thoughts still remained on the weird reaction of the maid. If she didn't want to answer the question, she could have been a lot less suspicious about it. Now, I couldn't think of anything else besides this new mystery. I had to figure out why. I found myself looking forward to my lessons with Shikamaru.

"What do you think, Lady Ino?"

I admired myself in my mirror and smiled. The purple material looked rich against my pale skin, and it made my blonde hair shine radiantly. I twirled to get a full view of my dress and was satisfied. The dress was flattering and I couldn't find any flaws in my inspection of the design.

"It's wonderful," I asked, continuing to admire the dress I was wearing. "Is it new?"

"Oh, yes, Lady Ino. It's among the newest to come, you will be one of the most fashionable princesses," The maid gushed. I spun one more time, and listened to the compliments of the maids. After a while, their comments started lacking originality and became repetitive and I grew bored. It was time to depart for breakfast.

"Ah, I see the new designs have came in. Just in time, and, my, don't you look wonderful," I heard my father's booming voice before I saw him.

"What do you mean, 'just in time', Father?" I asked, taking my seat at the table, next to him.

"Another Suitor has arrived," He said, smiling at me.

"Another Suitor?" I echoed. Since my last birthday, when I came of age, Suitors have been swarming the castle. At first it was exciting, they came bearing gifts and enticing stories of adventures. But, once I looked further beneath their prince-y surface, I saw that they were empty on the inside. That they were all boring, noble born princes that made up stories in their pathetic attempt to impress me. I was unable to keep much interest in them, because they simply weren't intriguing.

"Ino, I know you think they are boring, but eventually you'll have to pick someone. You're kingdom is counting on you," My father said, knowing what was going on behind my pretty face. I sighed.

"I just wish they weren't a bunch of boring saps," I said.

"This one is different," He said.

"That's what you always say, and it's never true. Besides, they only want to marry me because of my looks," I answered, playing absent-mindedly with my food.

"Well, you do care a lot about your looks, don't you find that flattering?"

"I would, if that wasn't all they saw in me," I answered in one of my rare moments when I didn't sound vain.

"You'll at least give him a chance, right?" My father asked, looking at me with hopeful eyes. I sighed again.

"I always do, right?" was my reply. He smiled triumphantly, and I replied with a spoiled "humph".

"He'll be joining us for lunch," He said, still smiling triumphantly, not the least bit fazed by my lack of enthusiasm.

"What's he like?" I questioned. I couldn't help but think that he was going to be dry and stuck up just like all the other suitors before him. It was like in the job description or something. I'd only met two acceptable people my age and only one was my suitor.

Shikamaru was acceptable, but a mix of the classes wasn't a good choice. And Sasuke had only been acceptable when he was younger. These days he's just an empty shell of what he used to be.

"I don't know, exactly. His name is Shino, I'm sure you'll find him quite handsome," My father answered.

"That's not what I meant, though good looks are nice. Is he boring?" I asked bluntly.

"He has just arrived, I don't know if he's boring or not. Ino, I think he would be one of the best choices for this kingdom. Prince Shino comes from a wealthy kingdom and can open up all sorts of sources for us," My father said. I nodded. When my father said 'wealthy kingdom' he really meant 'wealthier kingdom'. I would give this guy more of a chance, I couldn't be selfish all the time. After all, my father was right, the kingdom was counting on me.

"You better go off for your lessons, Shikamaru will be waiting for you," My father dismissed me. I nodded again, and left.

"You've caused quite a fuss," Shikamaru said when I entered my room. I smiled when I saw he was sitting in his usual chair on the balcony. He knew that I loved having my lessons overlooking the garden. It sucked being cooped up in the castle all the time. More than a couple times, I daydreamed of going outside of the castle, but it was forbidden of me to do so.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting in my usual chair across from him on the balcony. He half smiled and looked down at the garden.

"Asking too many questions. You made that maid quite nervous," He said. I brought my hand to my mouth and gasped. The news of the suitor had made me forget all about the curious behavior of the maid this morning.

"Oh! Shikamaru, I was going to ask you about that. I asked the maid if it was more beautiful outside of the castle walls, and she excused herself quickly without answering me," I said, expressing my confusion.

"The maid would have been foolish to answer that question," Shikamaru answered.

"Why?" I asked, even though I knew he would make me work for it.

"What do you suspect?" He asked, doing exactly what I expected he would do. I scowled at him, before looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

"Well, maybe she isn't allowed to talk about it," I said after a few minutes of thought.

"Good, that's right," Shikamaru praised me. I wasn't satisfied yet.

"Why?" I asked, "Why isn't she allowed to talk about it?"

"I can't tell you, I'm forbidden to tell you as well."

"So, you can talk about it, you just can't tell me?"

"It's against the King's law to speak about it while inside the castle," Shikamaru said as though he was reciting it from a book. He watched me, and I imagine he could see the gears turning in my head.

"So, you aren't allowed to talk about it in the castle, and the King, my father, is the one who forbade it," I said, repeating all the information I had just gathered.

"Ino, let that topic rest for a bit. We need to start our lessons," Shikamaru said. Shikamaru had been in charge of my lessons. Ever since my previous mentor had died, he had taken over. It was strange to have someone my own age teach me, but I quickly grew to enjoy it.

I continued to think about the thing being with held from me, my mind unable to wrap around this mystery. I wanted to know. Why wasn't I allowed to know? What was it? I jumped, when Shikamaru suddenly closed his book.

"This is troublesome. You aren't even paying attention," He said, studying me with bored eyes.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru, I really am. I'm just distracted," I said, honestly sorry.

"Ino, I asked you to let the topic rest," Shikamaru said, slight disappointment and obvious disapproval in his voice.

"That's not why," I fibbed, "Another suitor has come, and I find it hard to focus on the lesson." I couldn't deal with Shikamaru's disappointment. Shikamaru frowned at me, and I knew he could see through my lie, but he didn't call me on it.

"This suitor is pretty important to the kingdom?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, he is," I said with a sigh. I looked down and drew circles on the arm rest. Since I was unable to focus, Shikamaru and I enjoyed the view, talked about nature, and the beauty of it.

I still couldn't forget the mystery, and as more time passed the more I needed to know. What was being kept from me?


	3. An Adventure, Adventure!

**Chapter 2: An Adventure, Adventure!  
**_(In which the Princess mourns being locked in the castle) _

The next morning, I woke up early and watched the sunrise again. I found a certain peace in the sunrise. The sun could see everything, got to travel through the sky and across the world, and I found that not only did I think it was peaceful, but I was also jealous. Jealous that it was so free, when I was locked away in a castle.

No one understood because, technically, I had everything I needed and more. I had servants, I had food, I had clothes, I had everything. Everything, except the freedom to go anywhere, do anything I wanted.

I sighed and leaned against the railing. I was just like all those suitors who came to see me. Boring. I had never been on an adventure, and I knew it was unfair of me to reject them when they were in the same predicament as me.

A flapping noise caught my attention, and in the beautiful gardens below my balcony, a nest was perched in a tall tree. I watched a robin leave it's nest, and come back, only to leave again in a few minutes. I remembered learning about this, Shikamaru said that the bird was feeding it's young. Envy bubbled inside of me, as the pretty little bird flew freely over the Earth.

An adventure. That's what I needed. I needed to leave the castle and explore the world, not learn about it from a book. I wanted an adventure more than I had ever wanted anything in my life.

An adventure! An adventure! The thought wouldn't leave me alone. Why was I so keen on an adventure? What was an adventure exactly? What qualified something as an adventure? Adventure. Adventure. Adventure. Every beat of my heart. Adventure. The never ending chant that played over and over in my head. Not to mention the intrigue, something out there was being kept from me.

It surely would be an adventure to discover what that was. Wouldn't it? Would it make it more of an adventure if I snuck out of the castle to discover this secret? Would it make it more of an adventure if I got away with it? Would it be an adventure if it was exciting? These questions turned over and over in my head.

Then it was decided. I would have my adventure and I would have it soon. Accomplishing the first step, deciding that I was going on an adventure, I spent the rest of the time before breakfast on the second step. If I was going to get away with it, I'd have to plan it carefully.

I was brought out of my scheming when there was a knock on the balcony doors. I had shut them when I began planning, not wanting to be bothered by the maids.

"Yes?" I called, a little frustrated that I couldn't figure out parts of my plan. No matter how hard I tried, there were several things I couldn't get around. I also needed to research. I couldn't just stride into the village, all princess-y and expect not to stand out like a sore thumb.

"Your father is wondering what is taking you so long to come down for breakfast," Came the maid's answer. I stood up with a sigh, I would have to resume my planning later, my father would get suspicious if I didn't join him for breakfast.

I walked down the hallway and paused outside of the dinner hall when I heard voices. I got as close as I could, without being seen, and listened intently.

"…She hasn't been outside the castle walls," my father said.

"That's good, she would be in a lot of danger if she did. I think it would be best if I married her and got her away from here," That was Prince Shino. I did not want to marry him. He was boring, like every other prince I had met.

"I heard that we aren't the only Kingdom they visit. I heard that they travel around constantly. They come here about the same time every year, and that time is coming soon," My father said. Who were 'they'? Merchants? Why would traveling merchants have anything to do with the kingdom and my safety?

"They haven't been to my Kingdom, it's beyond their region. We are too far North, King Inoichi," Said Prince Shino. I wanted to stay here and listen in some more, but I heard footsteps coming from further down the hall. It would not be good if I was found eavesdropping, on my own father nonetheless.

Taking a few steps back, I walked into the Dining Hall, making sure I was heard. My father turned to look at me, and smiled.

"Ino, what took you so long? Prince Shino and I have patiently waited for you. It's very rude to make people wait," My father said.

"Sorry, I was watching the sunrise, and it was just so beautiful that I forgot all about time," I said, sitting down. The Prince and the King nodded. The door opened, and in came three servants. The owners of the footsteps I had heard in the hallway. Holding big, silver platters, they served us our breakfast.

The idle chat that I usually enjoyed, being as social as I was, was torture. I wanted nothing more than to start my lessons and research, Shikamaru my source. At long last, my torturing was over. I kissed my father on the cheek and dashed out of the Dining Hall.

I was out of breath when I finally entered my room. Once again, Shikamaru was sitting out on the balcony.

"In a hurry to start your lessons, or were you just trying to escape another boring suitor?" Shikamaru asked, with a small smile.

"I couldn't wait to start our lesson, of course," I answered, once I caught my breath. Shikamaru opened a book up, and I traced the loopy letters with my eyes. The handwriting was so beautiful, flowing gracefully along each page and providing me with knowledge.

"One of the greatest leaders of our Kingdom was-,"

"Shikamaru, do you think we could talk about the Kingdom today?" I asked. He blinked at me.

"We are talking about the Kingdom," He said. I rolled my eyes.

"I mean, the actual Kingdom. Like the people who live out there," I pointed out past the balcony railing and the castle walls that trapped me here like an animal caught in a cage, "What do they dress like? What are they like? Do they like me? Why don't I ever see them?"

"Hm. Well, to start with, they dress in these things called…" Shikamaru started, explaining to me, giving me details, on the people who were my 'subjects'. I paid close attention, and made note of what they wore and how they talked. When the lesson was over, I was satisfied, because I had everything I needed. The second step was complete, the planning was done. Now I had to move on to the third step, preparing.

Hours later, when lunch and supper had come and passed, I crept silently to the door. I pushed on it gently, and shut it once I was in the hall. Glancing around, I checked the hallway, finding no one, I continued on. I kept walking, darting into a dark corner anytime I heard a noise, until I reached the servants' quarters.

Now this part was going to be tricky, and it was even more difficult, considering the fact that I was very jumpy. I practically leapt a mile every time I heard a noise, imagining getting caught.

I crept in like a thief in the night, which technically I was, and snatched some garments from random drawers. Quickly, my heart thudding in my chest, I stuffed them into a bag slung across my shoulder. Once the goods were safely tucked away, I ran.

I ran hard, and didn't stop until I got back to my room. Crossing the room, I dove into my bed and climbed under the covers. The whole time, my heart going crazy. Once it began to slow down, I started to laugh. I covered my mouth to muffle the sounds of my laughter as I thought of my ridiculous midnight run through the castle.

That, was an adventure. A small, insignificant one, but still an adventure. If this had been so much fun, imagine how much fun sneaking out of the castle would be. I wondered if, when I finished my adventure if I'd be satisfied. Would I ever be satisfied? If I started seeking adventure now, and if I found it, would I ever be able to return to the castle and live happily? I turned over and tried to go to sleep. These questions made me sad, and I didn't want to think about them anymore.


	4. Revelations

**Chapter 3: Revelations  
**_(In which the Princess discovers more than she bargained for)_

"Shikamaru, have you ever been on an adventure?" I asked him, leaning forward eagerly.

"No," He answered after a brief pause that was characteristic of him. I sat back in my chair, disappointed.

"But don't you want to have an adventure? Don't you want something exciting to make your life worth while?" I asked, waving my arms around in my excitement. Shikamaru studied me for a few minutes, and I wondered if he could read my mind.

"You shouldn't go," He said. I looked at him, surprised.

"I'm not going anywhere," I said, knowing he wouldn't believe me.

"Why don't we get back to the lesson?" Shikamaru asked.

Throughout the rest of the lesson, I stifled my excitement and worked hard to focus on everything Shikamaru was saying. Finally, when the lesson was over and Shikamaru was gone, I dressed in my stolen disguise.

Once I had the clothes on, I turned my attention to my hair. I pulled it to the side and plaited my hair into a long blonde braid. Then I tucked the braid up into a hat, hiding my brilliant blonde hair. Shikamaru had said that most of the villagers had brown hair, and I concluded that walking around with my blonde hair would attract unwanted attention.

I crept out onto my balcony and, after checking that the coast was clear, slipped one foot over the edge. Nimbly, this was surprisingly easy considering that I'd been stuck in the castle all my life, I shimmied down the side of the balcony.

It was too easy to slip outside of the gates, and I caught myself wishing it had been a little more difficult. They probably didn't expect me to try and sneak out. I whistled, walking down the path till the village. I was free! The feeling was amazing. Everything seemed brighter and prettier.

I bounced with each step, practically floating on the air. That was, until I was met with the most horrible sight ever. I could feel my jaw drop, and my body stiffen. The village, MY village, was a wreck. Not just messy, but there were still fires going. Building were crumbling, goods were ruined, people looked horrible.

"What happened?" I questioned the first person I saw. I received a strange look.

"Are you new here? This happens every year," The person answered.

"Yeah, I'm new…," I said, a strong feeling of horror building in my chest. This happened every year, and I didn't do anything about it. Heck, I didn't even know about it.

"What about the King? Why doesn't he do anything about it?" I asked. I had to know.

"The King has tried to stop it, but I think he might have given up," The person answered, looking down and talking quietly. The feeling of horror changed to fury.

"WHAT IS IT, THOUGH!" I demanded, louder than I meant to in my sudden anger. I was met with wide eyes, and the person clamped a hand over my mouth. When the person got closer, I was able to determine that the person was a boy.

He was covered with soot, and I figured either he had been in one of the fires, or he was helping put them out.

"Keep your voice down!" He hissed into my ear. I was unaccustomed to the treatment, let alone the closeness of the boy.

"Then tell me what it is," I said, pushing him and his hand away from me. He looked around him, and then sighed.

"Fine, but let's go somewhere private," He answered, latching a hand on my wrist, and dragging me away from the village and into the woods. When we were a good distance away from the village, he let go of my wrist and leaned against a tree.

"Are you going to answer me now, or is it not private enough?" I asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"You're strange," He said, looking at me with a critical eye.

"I don't think you have much room to talk," I said, feeling insulted.

"Do you have hair? Are you a girl or a boy?" He questioned, and I could feel my face turning red.

"I do have hair! And I'm a girl!" I said, clenching my fists.

"Prove it," He said, crossing his arms.

"Prove it?" I repeated. He nodded. Glaring at him the whole time, I removed my hat to show him my long blonde braid. He reached forward to touch it, but I slapped his hand.

"See?" I said, tucking my hair back up in my hat.

"You still haven't proven that you're a girl," He said.

"Baka!" I said, slamming my fist into his head.

"Now, tell me what happened," I demanded.

"Ok, ok, ok," He said, rubbing his head. He motioned for me to sit next to him, which, after hesitation, I did.

"Every year, around the same time, we're attacked. Our crops and goods are destroyed, buildings burned, sometimes they steal some maidens. They come back every night, bringing chaos, until the King pays them the money they always demand. Then they leave, and come back the same time next year," He said.

"Why doesn't the King prepare for it! What about fighting them!" I asked. Wasn't it obvious how to stop them?

"Don't you think we've tried that!" The boy demanded, getting angry. I gasped in surprise. People did not talk to me that way. Ever.

"We're not stupid! We've tried resisting, it makes it worse! The King has even asked for outside help! Nothing works! Plus there's been rumors going around," He was angry now, shouting in my face.

"Rumors?" I asked, doing my best to resist punching him in the face.

"There are rumors that they want to kidnap the princess and use her to get a higher pay," He said, his face still close to mine.

"K-kidnap the princess?" I stuttered out. He nodded vigorously.

"That's why suitors keep coming to the castle, the King wants to send her away so she can be safe. But she rejects every one. A suitor is here right now, he's probably the best pick too. The princess will probably reject him as well, she's picky," He said. I shoved him, and he fell on his butt in surprise.

"You really shouldn't be bad mouthing your princess like that," I said, feeling horrible for being so selfish. I noticed that the sun was now at the highest point, and was starting to ascend. I needed to get home, before my absence was noticed.

"I wasn't talking about her bad, I was stating a fact," He said.

"Well, whatever, I need to go," I said, standing up and stalking away.

"Wait! Come back! I didn't mean to make you mad!" He called after me, but I ignored him. I continued to stalk through the village, on my way back to the castle.

I stumbled over something, and landed hard on my elbow. There was a sharp pain, and a gritted my teeth to keep from crying out. Sitting up and cradling my elbow, I looked to see what I had tripped over. I put a hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming. Tears began to leak down my face, it was so horrible.

It was worse than seeing the village in ruins. It was worse than seeing people covered with soot, rushing around and trying to stop fires. It was worse than anything I had ever seen in my life.

I had tripped over the body of a child.

It's face was all black and bloody, and I couldn't tell what it used to look like. I couldn't even tell if it was a boy or girl. This was painful. I should have listened to Shikamaru. He was always right.

Suddenly, I found myself scared of the body. What if it clamped it's blackened fingers around my ankle. What if it looked me in the eye and asked me why I didn't help it. Shivers ran up my back, and I pushed myself up to stand.

Taking one last look at the kid, I ran like wild back to the castle. I was terrified, running recklessly. I didn't stop, until I was almost in sight of the castle. Gasping for breath, I knew it wouldn't be smart of me to continue running up to the gates. So, I snuck around and got in the way I got out.

It was a little more difficult to get in than it had been for me to get out, it was obvious that my father had sent the guards to guard the castle, and maybe the village.


	5. In Which the Princess Messes Up

**Chapter 4: In Which the Princess Messes Up  
**_(In which…well, the title pretty much sums it up)_

**Note: This is similar to the prologue, but a bit different and with stuff added, so worth reading all the way through. Thanks.**

Now we are back where we started. Back to the beginning of the middle.

I climbed up the balcony, my arms shaking with restrained emotions and the effort of scaling the balcony. Not even pausing to catch my breath, I ran to my bed. Climbing beneath the blankets and burrowing in the warmth.

I felt the mattress of my bed sink, signaling to me that someone had sat down on the side of my bed. My tears halted as I listened intently to discover who it was. There was a pat on my blanket covered head and a soothing, familiar voice.

"Ino, I told you it wasn't a good idea." Shikamaru said.

I pulled the blanket down to my nose, and peered at him. He was right, I should have listened to him. Now I felt committed. Now I felt the pain of the truth. Now I felt…unworthy of my title.

"Shikamaru, how come I didn't know that was going on?" I asked, quietly. I watched as his face changed, from pity and concern, to a look I couldn't discern.

"Your father was only shielding you," He answered, keeping his voice low as well. It wouldn't do neither of us good to have someone walk in at the present moment. Shikamaru was sitting by me on my bed, I was crying. It was quite compromising in my father's eyes. Not to mention, if my father were to find out what I had seen today, he wouldn't be happy.

Not that I was happy with him at the moment.

"Speaking of my father, it wouldn't do us any good for somebody to find us…like this," I said, gesturing at our bodies, both on the bed's mattress. Shikamaru nodded, and quickly maneuvered off the bed.

"Why would my father want to shield me? Don't I need to know these things?" I asked Shikamaru. I looked out the window that I had just climbed through, before glancing back at him.

"Your father sees you as a delicate thing, he probably thought it'd be too much for you to handle, troublesome as it is," Shikamaru said. I wiped my eyes, which were still damp from crying, and sniffed.

"I'm not delicate, and it didn't do much good, I still found out," I said, defending myself from my father's accusations. Shikamaru smiled weakly.

"Of course you're not delicate, that's just what he believes," Shikamaru said, aiding my defenses

"Oh, Shikamaru, it was horrible," I said, knowing that what I had just seen would haunt my dreams. He nodded and I knew that he had seen that, he might have even endured it before he came here to work for my father.

"Ino, you should change back into your normal clothes," He said, pointing down at my currant apparel. He was right, if anyone saw me in these clothes, it would cause them to ask unneeded questions that would rise problems. I nodded, and he quickly stepped out of the room to give me my needed privacy.

I stood up, and walked over to the large mirror in my room. It was strange how clothes could change what I looked like entirely. I sighed and changed into my normal clothes. Glancing back into the mirror, and turning a few times, I found that I looked the same as before. But I felt different.

"Lady Ino? It's time to dine," I turned to nod at the maid.

"I'll be right along," I said, looking back in the mirror one last time, checking to make sure that nothing had changed. That there was no sign of what I had witnessed. Finding none, I turned away from the mirror and walked out the door. Would I be able to hide my new found knowledge when I faced my father at this now impending meal? I wasn't so confident that I would succeed.

I walked down the hallway, hearing my father's booming laughter made me frown. Why was he laughing when his village was suffering?

"What's the matter?" He asked, once I rounded the corner. Crap. I wondered how angry I looked. It was hard to hide it, especially since I wasn't an actress or anything. I had to lie, quickly.

"I'm having a bad day," I said. That was safe, it didn't get anyone in trouble.

"That's too bad," my father said, watching me with concern. I waved my hand, indicating that I was dismissing the topic.

"Where's Prince Shino?" I questioned.

"What do you think of him?" My father asked. I remembered what the boy said, about me being picky. I had to do what was best for the Kingdom and stop being selfish.

"father, I don't think I'll reject him," I said, having a hard time saying this.

"What do you mean?" He asked, though judging by his grin, he knew well enough.

"Well, I've rejected all the other suitors, but I don't think I'll reject Shino," I said.

"If you aren't going to reject him, then what are you going to do?" I scowled. He was going to make me say it.

"I…I ac-. Accept him," I said, struggling with saying it. I actually didn't want to. I would have to go live with him in his castle and leave my father and Shikamaru behind. I felt tears choking in my throat and turned away so my father wouldn't see the tears building up in my eyes.

"Great! You two will head out tomorrow!" My father exclaimed, triumph and happiness apparent in his voice. I didn't answer, because I didn't trust my voice.

That night, as I laid in my bed, I thought about the boy. The boy that had told me about what was happening. He didn't like me, because I was selfish. But, he didn't even know me!

How could he hate me when I was sacrificing myself! Because of him, I was marrying a boring, stuck up prince who lived far away.

With a determined face, I got out of bed and went out to my balcony. I would tell that boy. I would tell him that the princess wasn't selfish. That she was choosing the suitor for him and the rest of the village. That she understood. Tears stung my eyes as I snuck out of the castle walls.

I felt my anger at the boy grow as I marched towards the village. I saw the bright orange glow before I saw the village. I began to run, towards the village, to confirm my suspicions. Stopping when I reached the village, my suspicions where correct, the village was on fire.

In a startling suddenness, the anger building inside of me, turned into shame. It was foolish of me to sneak out. What was the matter with me? Was I stupid! I pulled at my dress, deciding that I was. I hadn't even changed out of my princess clothes!

"Hey, you!" I froze when a voice called out to me.

Oh, yes, I was stupid. Stupid enough to sneak out of the castle. Stupid enough to not change. Stupid enough to stand on the path before the burning village. Stupid enough to freeze as the figure ran towards me. Stupid enough to scream when he grabbed my arm. Stupid enough to shiver when he pulled me close to his face. Stupid enough to cry, when he realized that I was a princess and began to taunt me. Stupid enough to faint. I was weak. Just like my father suspected of me.


	6. Brutes Who Look Like Vikings but Aren't

**Chapter 5: Brutes Who Look Like Vikings, but Aren't  
**_(In which the Princess meets some tough thugs)_

I woke up with a groan. Pain. Everything hurt so bad.

"She's waking up, un," Came a voice. It was loud and hurt my ears. I flinched.

"Shut up," I mumbled, my brain still foggy.

Somebody grabbed the collar of my dress and pulled me forward violently.

"Don't tell me to shut up," The same voice growled at me. I opened my eyes and flinched again. Everything was so bright, it hurt my eyes.

"Ouch," I said weakly, closing my eyes again.

"Weak," The voice muttered, dropping me to the ground. Pain shot up through me, and I felt tears welling up.

I opened my eyes again, slowly this time. There wasn't any brightness this time.

_Where am I? _

I looked around me and saw a group of people. They all had casual clothes on, but when I looked around camp, I saw armor not too far away, leaning against trees. Tied to the trees were beautiful horses. They reminded me of my the horses in my father's stable. He always found pride in them.

With wide eyes I came to a conclusion/realization.

"V-Vikings?"

They all laughed at me. I felt blood rush to my cheeks and I knew I was blushing.

Shikamaru had told me about the Vikings. They traveled the seas, torturing people everywhere, plundering and killing the innocent.

And here they sat, laughing at me for some reason.

"Why are you laughing at me?" I demanded, my voice sounding braver than I felt.

"Saucy," One man said, with a guttural laugh.

"We ain't Vikings, _your highness_. We're Akatsuki," Another man said, his voice raspy. It reminded me of furniture being dragged across the stony, castle floor.

"Akatsuki?" I had never heard of them before. Akatsuki…hmmm.

"We used to be Vikings, but we've left them, taking to the land and rooting the places you can't reach by boat, un," A blonde man said. He was the one sitting the closest to me. Now that I thought about it, he was the only one sitting near me.

We were both sitting away from the fire, while the others were all sitting around it.

"You idiots, we don't need to tell her anything," The man was obviously in charge, because everyone fell quiet after his words. I tried to get a good look at him, but his face was cast in shadow.

The men around the fire returned to their food, which smelled just wonderful. My stomach ached, and I felt weak from lack of nutrition.

"For someone who's royalty, you don't wear much jewelry, un," The blonde man said. I turned to look at him, and he held up a hand. I gasped as his hand twinkled with my jewelry. He even had the small, golden ring that I wore on a necklace and tucked into my dress to keep it close to my heart.

I felt so violated, anger sweeping over me. These men could have done anything to me while I was unconscious. Infuriated, I glared at the blonde man, straight into his blue eyes.

"Give them back," I demanded, my voice shaking with the immense fury seizing me.

"I don't want to," He said, dumping them back and forth between his two hands. I frowned.

"They're mine!" I said, grinding my teeth in frustration.

"They're mine now. Finders keepers, losers weepers," He taunted, smirking at me and depositing the jewelry into a pocket. I clenched my fists. _I have to be careful and keep my anger in check, these men can kill me._

"Deidara, get her some food. We can't have her dying on us," The man, who I presumed was the leader, ordered. Deidara's smirk never left his face as he left to get me some food and returned, plopping down close to me.

Deidara leaned forward, his face close to mine.

"Open your mouth," He ordered, rising up a spoon. I opened my mouth to object, and he shoved the spoon full of food into my mouth. He waited patiently while I chewed my food and swallowed it.

Deidara lifted up another mouthful, but I held my mouth closed in a firm line. He frowned at me.

"I can feed myself," I said, craning my neck away from him so he couldn't shove more food into my mouth.

"I'm not untying you, so be a good girly and just let me feed you, un," He said. I shook my head 'no' and he sighed.

"Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way," Deidara said. He firmly grabbed my face, and pulled it towards him. Putting pressure on my checks, he forced my mouth open. He put the spoon in my mouth, and released my face.

I spit the food out.

Even though I was starving, my pride and personality wouldn't allow this. Anyway, they needed to keep me alive for some reason, and I would punish them for kidnapping me by being as difficult as possible.

"You little-," Deidara muttered, roughly grabbing my chin. He squeezed my face again, harder this time, and shoved more food in. Then, he covered my mouth. I couldn't spit it out this time, but I could refuse to swallow it. And that is what I did.

"Swallow it!" Deidara demanded, looking thoroughly annoyed and angry.

I shook my head stubbornly.

Deidara formed a fist and threatened to hit me, I flinched, but he stopped mid swing.

"Just let the girl starve," A man from around the fire said, chuckling in amusement, "Eventually she'll eat."

Deidara crossed his arms and still looked angry. I took the chance to spit out my food. The glowering blonde scowled at me. I thought about smiling back at him brightly, but I didn't want to push my luck.

I was tortured with the delicious smells of their dinner for only a short while longer, and all the Akatsuki members were heading off to their tents to sleep.

Deidara picked me up and hoisted me over his shoulder, and carried me over to a tent that I guessed was his.

He laid me down in it, still tied up, and sat down next to me. He pulled his shirt up over his head, revealing a finely defined chest, tossed the shirt in the corner of the tent and laid next to me.

"Uh, you're not…sleeping in here…with m-me…," I asked with a red face, flustered.

"What? Did you expect me to do, let you sleep in your own tent so you could escape in the middle of the night? No chance," Deidara said, smiling slyly at me, "Are you scared of me?"

"No," I said indignantly.

He scooted closer to me, wrapping his arms around my body and hugging me close to him.

"Let go," I said, my voice muffled in his chest.

"What, I can't hear you?"

I frowned.

This was going to be a long night.


	7. Life as a Captive

**Chapter 6: Life as a Captive  
**_(In which the Princess has a hard time and maybe dies)_

I woke up to the chilly morning with goose bumps running up my arms and legs. I sat up and wrapped my arms tight around my body.

"At least _he's _gone," I mumbled under my breath. And then, I was hit with a strong emotion of homesickness. I wanted nothing more than to be home. It was weird, longing home once I got the thing I wanted most.

To comfort myself, I reached for the golden ring usually hanging around my neck. It wasn't there, and I remembered that _he _stole it.

I started to hum the song my mom always sang to me when I was upset back when I was little and she was still alive. But I didn't remember the words that well, or the tune, for I usually depended on her ring to sooth me.

Thinking about her didn't help, it made me sad. I missed her a lot. Why did she have to leave me?

"Good morning, un," Deidara said.

I wiped the tears away from my face, and turned my back to him.

"What? No 'good morning, Deidara'?" Deidara said.

I ignored him. He sighed.

"Why do girls always have to so moody all the time? Why can't they just be happy?" Deidara asked.

I kept ignoring him. Not satisfying him with reply.

"Are you hungry?" Deidara asked, "You should eat, it'll be a long day today."

"Do you realize that you're having a conversation with yourself?" I said haughtily.

"You are quite amusing," Deidara said with a laugh, placing a hand on my shoulder and turning me around to face him. He leaned in closer and closer, staring at my lips. My breath caught in my throat. He wasn't going to kiss me, was he? I tried to lean back and away, but he still had his hand on my shoulder and I was still tied up.

"And, quite desirable," He whispered. I felt my stomach muscles clench and a panic set over me.

Deidara's lips were mere centimeters from mine when he jumped.

"Deidara! Are you going to feed her before we leave or not?" Called the voice that made him jump and, fortunately, stopping him from kissing me.

Deidara leaned back and frowned. I stifled a sigh of relief.

"Time to eat," He said, scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder.

Deidara dropped me at the base of a big, tree. I think, from what I remember of Shikamaru's lessons, that it was an Oak tree.

He crouched in front of me and held out a spoonful of stew. I closed my mouth shut tight, determined not to eat, even though the stew looked very appetizing and my stomach was growling.

"You should show her who's boss," A man with thick, red hair said, after I refused to eat.

"She's my hostage, Sasori, I'll decide what I do with her," Deidara said, not even turning to look at the man.

"Show her the strength of the Akatsuki," Sasori said, "Her stubbornness is wasting our time. You should know how much I dislike waiting."

Deidara scowled at Sasori and waited for him to pass before turning back to me.

"You're going to eat this," He said, his face darker.

I was afraid, but I shook my head to answer negatively. Deidara backhanded me, making my cheek throb with pain, and I struggled not to cry.

Shocked, I opened my mouth and ate the food, but only enough to make him satisfied. The whole situation made me sick to my stomach, and while he was bridling the horse, I threw my breakfast up. Usually, when I threw up, I felt better. But, this time I felt worse.

Deidara returned, leading the horse by the reins. His eyes were drawn to my breakfast, and he turned to glare at me.

"Please, don't hurt me, I didn't do it on purpose," I pleaded, closing my eyes and bracing for the hit. But, it didn't come.

Instead, I felt myself being picked up from the ground. I opened my eyes and found myself being laid, stomach down, across the horse.

By the end of the day, my stomach was killing me.

I was with the Akatsuki for a whole month, and everyday was the same. Wake up, be forced to eat breakfast, and ride horseback all day. Always on my stomach, stopping only to eat midday meal and supper. Whenever I misbehaved, Deidara didn't hesitate to 'punish' me, and I grew to loathe Sasori, the red headed man who had started the pain.

I had several bruises now, all because of the man. During the long days, I'd think of different death scenarios for him. Sometimes, I was shocked on how gruesome I could make them.

Then, one day, my chance for escape came.

"Let's stop here," Leader-sama, that's what they called the man who was in charge. I have yet to see his face, he seemed to always have a shadow covering his face.

It was pouring down rain, everything was wet and miserable. It was coming down so hard, that it was hard to see, and it was decided that we'd stay here, near the river, and wait it out. It wasn't long after we stopped that the lightning and thunder started up.

It was truly magnificent and terrifying at the same time, and we were getting soaked standing under the meager protection of a clump of trees. I kept looking at the river, it was swelled from rain and the storm ruffled the surface and produced waves.

Then, a brilliant idea struck me. It would make Shikamaru proud.

"The horses!" I cried, looking in the direction they were tied up, "They're loose and running for the hills!"

The Akatsuki members shouted and scrambled, worried that their beautiful horses would get away. Still tied up, I ran, (well, hopped) to the river and with a steadying breath leapt into it.

Dumb idea! Dumb idea!

With my hands and feet bound, I couldn't swim. Not to mention that I didn't know how to swim in the first place, for I had never been outside of the castle before. I sank like a rock, until an under currant caught me and swept me farther down river and to the surface. I gulped a big breath of fresh air, but was pulled under again.

When I thought my lungs were going to explode, I somehow broke the surface again. Desperate to stay above the water, I threw my hands over a log, catching a broken branch with the rope tying my hands.

I hung on for as long as I could, but my arms and shoulders became sore and I didn't know how long I could hold on. It burned.

A roaring reached my ears, louder than the pelting rain and I felt my stomach flip flop. The currant picked up, carrying me faster and faster down river.

Of course, there was a waterfall.

I screamed as I was carried over the edge, the waterfall loud in my ears and drowning everything else out. For a long moment, everything else was gone, and all that existed was me, the air, and the water.

Then, the fall ended, with a painful smack and, once again, submersion. Somewhere, in the air I had lost the log, and I was alone again.

I sunk lower than I had ever gone before. I opened my eyes, and I saw a big, grey fish. It looked at me before darting away.

I needed air, trying to take a breath in panic and drawing in water. I choked on it, and it only made it worse.

I'm going to die.

I'm going to die.

I'm going to die.

I'm going to die.

Someone wrapped an arm around my waist, and we were going up and up.

_Too late…I need air…_

Blackness took over.


	8. My Savior & Co

**Chapter 7: My Savior and Company  
**_(In which the Princess doesn't die and the title of the story appears in the text. Clever, huh?)_

I was floating in a large expanse of darkness, feeling disconnected and confused. How was I here? Where was here?

A small light flickered in front of me. It grew bigger and bigger, and I realized that I was moving towards it. The light was bright, strongly contrasting the overwhelming darkness I was in as of now. But, I didn't want to go to it. I felt something deep inside, wanting to stay away.

The small feeling grew and grew until I was frantically trying to get away from the light. I turned and tried to run in the opposite direction.

Slowly, I felt myself moving away from the light. After what seemed to be hours, the light was almost gone entirely. I saw my body laying on the ground.

_That's strange. I should be in my body._

I reached out and touched my body. The moment my hand made contact with my own body, I was sucked in. I was connected again.

Then, I began to feel.

I felt my nose burning from water being forced up it, I felt a soreness around my wrists which were raw from the binding rope, I felt an ache in my body from my struggle to live.

I moved so I was on my hands and knees, coughing up water. The hacking noises I was making scared me, and my whole body was shaking. When the terrifying coughing subsided, I laid down on my stomach and rested my cheek on the cool earth.

I saw feet, and my eyes traveled up a body, and I saw red hair.

Sasori!

I pushed up into a sitting position and closed my eyes and covered my face, backing up until I felt water. I didn't want to go back into the water.

"P-please! Please don't hurt me, I wasn't trying to escape, I fell into the water on accident. I'll do whatever you say, Sasori, s-sir, just don't hurt me," I pleaded, hoping that for some reason he might take pity on me and not hurt me.

"Sasori?" A rough voice said, it sounded unused, but it wasn't Sasori's voice.

I opened my eyes, and saw that it was, indeed, not Sasori. I felt all the tension leave my body. A boy with red hair, roughly the age of myself, sat there, looking at me intently.

"Y-you're not Sasori," I said, saying the obvious in my shock.

"No," He said, simply. I saw that he was wet, like I was, and I remembered an arm wrapping around my waist, taking me to safety.

"You rescued me," I said, "You saved my life."

Then, I did something I've been doing a lot lately. I cried.

"Did you not want me to save you?" He asked. Through my tears, I saw that he looked uncomfortable. I laughed, and rubbed my eyes.

"No, I'm just so relieved and happy to be away from the Akatsuki," I reassured him with a sniffle.

"Hm," He said, and then it was quiet for a while.

"Who are you?" I asked after a moment.

"Gaara?" A girl said, walking into the clearing and looking nervous. She stopped dead when she saw me.

"What's going on? Who's this?" She asked, still looking at me.

Gaara didn't answer.

"My name is Ino," I offered, "He saved me."

"He saved you?" The girl repeated, looking at Gaara. He nodded, slightly. She looked shocked.

I rubbed my eyes, overwhelmingly tired. I struggled to keep my eyes open, and struggled to comprehend what Temari was saying, but I only saw her mouth moving and her brow creased.

"I-I'm tired," I said, the weariness overcoming my will, and I found myself slipping away, losing the battle, "So…tired…"

"Ino? Ino?" A voice was saying, and somebody was shaking me.

I opened my eyes and saw a girl. She had sandy, blonde hair that was split into four pony tails and dark eyes. It was the girl from the clearing.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"What happened?" I asked. I was hungry, but my confusion overruled that. Last thing I remembered was being by the river and being saved by…what was his name again?

"You fainted…or fell asleep…something like that," She said.

Gaara, his name was Gaara.

"Where's Gaara?" I asked, looking around and seeing that I was in a tent. When I looked back at the girl, she had a strange look on her face.

"He's in his tent," She said, her voice strained, "Are you hungry?"

"Very," I said, holding my stomach. She nodded, and left the tent. I tried to sit up, but my muscles screamed in protest, so I found myself content with just laying there. She returned with a plate of food, her ponytails bobbing up and down with each stride.

"My name's Temari," She said, handing me a plate of food. I noticed it was made of silver and resembled the dishes we had back in the castle.

My stomach growled, and I forced myself to sit up so I could eat. The food was heavenly.

For several long moments, the only noise in the tent was the clinking of silverware against my plate as I ate. When I finished up, I sighed contently. My stomach hadn't felt so full, or so good, in a long time.

I looked back at Temari, and saw that she had that weird look on her face, like she was conflicted or something of that sort.

"Is something the matter?" I asked, setting my plate on the ground beside me.

"Why did Gaara save _you_?" Temari asked.

Then I got it. She was jealous.

"Look, I didn't do anything to make Gaara save me. I didn't mean to come between you two or anything, and I certainly don't want to ruin your relationship. I don't love him, honestly, I just met him and nothing happened," I said, truthfully.

Temari had a funny look on her face, and then burst out laughing.

"You think that…me and Gaara? Ha! No, we're brother and sister," She said, holding her stomach and tilting her head back as she laughed.

"Brother and sister?" I asked, unsure. Now I was confused.

"Yeah," Temari said, sounding more serious now, "Even though it rarely ever seems like it."

"What do you mean?" I asked, really curious now.

"Nothing. I don't mean anything," She said dismissively, "Now you get some more rest. We can talk more in the morning."


	9. Like Two Different Species

**Chapter 8: Like Two Different Species  
**_(In which the Princess makes a new friend and regains something valuable)_

"AH! Be careful, would you!"

I woke up, startled, to yelling.

"That stings! Ouch!"

"For a warrior, you really are a big baby!" Temari yelled, sounding frustrated.

"That's a tender spot! Ow! Don't just wrench it out!"

Curious, I sat up -ignoring the pain of my sore muscles- and looked through the tent flap. I couldn't see anything from that vantage, so I crawled out of the tent and peered into the clearing.

Temari was crouching in front of an unfamiliar man, and pulling on an arrow that was stuck in his upper thigh. From the looks of it, it seemed to have gone deep in his leg. I winced just looking at it.

"Are you ok?" I asked, now standing and looking at both of them. Temari jumped and looked at me over her shoulder. The man appeared shocked, his mouth forming an 'o'.

"Yeah, he's ok. He's just being a wimp," Temari said, smiling at me. I smiled back, and clasped my hands behind my back.

"It looks like it hurts, though," I insisted. It really did look like it hurt.

"It hurts worse when people just try to tear it out," The man said, shooting a glare at Temari. I giggled.

"Hey, how about I get you a new dress?" Temari asked, smiling at me kindly, "Then I'll deal with this crybaby."

I looked down at my dress, and felt sadness prickling inside me. I really had loved this dress. It was a shame what had happened.

"_That dress of yours always gets in the way. It's so impractical. How do you even manage to walk?" Deidara complained, in a huff, after I had stumbled for the millionth time that day._

"_Well, I didn't have to really worry about bushes or anything inside the castle," I replied._

_He studied me for a moment, and then smiled._

"_I know how to fix this," Deidara said, grabbing the hem of my dress._

"_Don't-!" I protested. Too late._

_**RIIIIIIIP!**_

"_M-my dress!" I exclaimed, on the verge of tears._

"_Don't waste your emotions on a piece of cloth," Deidara said, disdainfully._

_He turned to talk to one of the other Akatsuki members while I mourned my dress. He had ripped it, and now it was incredibly short. It barely came mid-thigh. I sighed._

_How much more could I take of this? I was used to having a bubble around myself, people just didn't touch me without my consent. They certainly didn't ruin my dresses._

"I don't mean to be rude," Temari said when we were back in the tent, "But Kankurou was practically drooling."

"Kankurou?" I repeated.

"My other brother, the big baby with the arrow in his leg," Temari explained, going through the bags piled in the back corner of the tent.

"Oh," I said, watching her rummage through her, at least I assumed they were hers, possessions.

"What happened to your dress, if you don't mind me asking," Temari said, pushing one pack out of the way and reaching for another.

"_Deidara_ ripped it," I told her, saying Deidara's name with venom. God knows he deserved that, at least.

"Hm, how do you like this one?" Temari said, holding up a green dress.

Green wasn't particularly my favorite color, but the dress was pretty and it was similar to the design of one of my dresses back home. It was rich fabric and looked expensive.

"It's beautiful," I said, smiling at her as she handed it to me, "Would you mind if I washed up before changing into it?"

"Not at all. The river is a little ways off…on the right. I'll keep Kankurou occupied, you know how men are," Temari said, pointing to the right. I nodded and pushed the flap to the side and stepped out of the tent. I smiled at Kankurou as I walked past him and headed back to the river.

I felt kind of nervous, after all I did have a near death experience in that water. But I did need to wash up, and I didn't have to go to far in the water to do that. I looked around, making sure no one was around.

It was quiet, just the sound of blue jays and song birds chirping in the trees filling the space around me. The river babbled happily, looking entirely different from the monster it had been the last time I'd seen it.

I stripped my clothes, took a deep breath, and waded nervously into the cold, clear water. I was incredibly jumpy in the water, worried that a big wave would suddenly sweep me away, someone would peek on me, and -the worst of all the worries- that an Akatsuki member would find me.

I washed up quickly, running back to the shore, and hurriedly dressing. I didn't feel safe again until I was back in camp, my dress clenched tightly in my hands.

Kankurou looked up from the fireside, his leg now arrow-free, and smiled at me.

"Are you hungry, uhm…," He asked, letting his question trail off at the end.

"Ino," I offered.

"Hi, I'm Kankurou," He said, "So, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I am," I said. Kankurou patted the ground next to him. I hesitated for a second, before shrugging to myself and settling on the ground next to him. He handed me a plate, and then leaned back on his hands, with his feet stretched out in front of him.

"So, I heard Gaara saved you," Kankurou said, looking at the fire.

"Yeah, he did," I said, taking a bite of my breakfast. It was a rich meat with some vegetables mixed in. Very delicious.

Kankurou laughed, it was a deep laugh and I found that I liked it. It reminded me of my Father's laugh.

"Do you always speak with few words?" He asked, still chuckling.

I smiled softly.

"When I'm eating, I do," I said. To emphasis my point, I scooped up another bite and popped it into my mouth. This caused him to laugh again. I felt all my worries about the Akatsuki flow away, all my tensions ease away.

This was comfortable.

"What happened," I asked between bites, "To your leg, I mean."

"Oh, last night Gaara and I went looking for the Akatsuki," Kankurou said. I gasped in surprise and my hand shot to my mouth.

"W-why?" I stammered.

"Gaara told us that you had escaped from the Akatsuki…and Gaara has a personal grudge against the organization," Kankurou said, looking a bit surprised at my antics. I sighed in relief, happy to know that they hadn't gone after them because of me. I didn't like to think of anyone risking their life on avenging me.

"Did you find them, then?" I asked, setting my plate of food down.

"Yeah, they got away though. Shooting arrows to cover their escape," Kankurou said, his face darkened.

"It's probably best they escaped," I said, "I hate to think of you guys fighting them. It'd be unfair to you two, anyways. The Akatsuki outnumber you greatly."

"You haven't heard of Gaara before?" Kankurou asked, looking at me strangely.

"No, I haven't. Before I was kidnapped, I had never even heard of the Akatsuki," I admitted.

"Did they hurt you?" Kankurou asked, reaching out to touch a bruise just above my wrist, "Or are these from the river?"

"Uh…," I started. Yeah, they had hurt me, but I wasn't sure how to say it. Kankurou treated the whole arrow-in-the-leg thing casually, but I didn't think I could act the same way about the abuse I suffered in the hands of the Akatsuki. Luckily, I didn't have to say anything, because Temari emerged from the tent.

"Oh, I didn't know you were back already. I'm sorry for Kankurou, he really is a pest," Temari said, smiling at the jab she made at her brother. Kankurou scowled.

"The only pest around here is you, Sister-dearest," Kankurou said, rolling his eyes. I couldn't help but giggle, and I couldn't help but wish that I had siblings of my own.

"We should be leaving."

Everyone quieted down and I looked around to see Gaara. He was wearing dark chain-mail over a white shirt and tan pants. At his waist was a long two-hand sword, sheathed in an elaborately designed scabbard. He looked intimidating, and if he hadn't saved me the other day, I would have been terrified.

Kankurou busied himself with putting out the fire and taking apart the other tent in the clearing. Temari stood up, and headed to her tent. I stood up as well, wondering if I should follow her or not.

"Ino," Gaara said. I stopped and turned to look at him, "I found this."

He held up a silver chain with a golden ring attached to it, and I felt my heart leap with joy. My mother's ring!

"It had your name on it," He said, holding it out to me. I reached out to take it, and squeezed it tightly in my hand.

"Thank you, so much!" I exclaimed, hugging him. He tensed, and I pulled away. Suddenly, everything was awkward.

I cleared my throat.

"Sorry, I was just so happy," I explained. Rolling the ring on the chain, reading my name on the inside of it. The ring had originally been my mother's, but when I was born, my mother had my name inscribed along the inside and gave it to me.

It wasn't overly flashy, no gemstones on it or anything. Instead, it had beautiful designs etched on the outside, like tiny spider threads weaving across its surface to make pictures.

He didn't answer, instead, he just nodded slightly and walked over to wear Kankurou was. I stood there for a moment, watching him walk. His red hair caught the sunlight, and I wondered how I had ever mistaken him with Sasori. Standing there, his hair glinting in the bright day, they were like two different species.

I shook my head, turned around, and walked to the tent where Temari was.


	10. A Change of Place and Clothes

**Chapter 9: A Change of Place and Clothes  
**_(In which the Princess changes her clothes…and place…)_

I paused to pull on the pants Temari handed to me, and I tucked a corner of my dress into my pants, making it easier to walk and keep up with the others.

I looked at Temari with envy, wishing I could wear what she had. She was wearing light armor over a short sleeved shirt and a skirt that had slits on both sides. Temari looked strong and beautiful at the same time.

"Better?" She asked, brushing her bangs out of her face. I smoothed the material of the dress out, not wanting to ruin Temari's dress.

"Yeah, much better," I said, looking up and smiling at her. She returned the smile, before turning and beckoning for me to follow. We pushed through the underbrush of the woods and headed to where Kankurou and Gaara were waiting.

When we approached the giant stone by the tree, where we had left the two, my eyes passed over the smirking Kankurou and I found myself locking eyes with Gaara. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't…anything. There was no sign of emotion on his face at all.

It was strange.

As we walked, I noticed that Kankurou and Temari kept their distance from Gaara, and it made me curious. But I just couldn't go and ask, "Hey, Why don't you guys ever go near Gaara?"

Just so strange.

But…walking up ahead all by himself…Gaara looked so lonely. I felt bad for him. Taking a deep breath, and making a decision, I picked up my pace and fell into step beside the red-haired man. After all, he saved my life.

"Hi," I said, when I caught up with him. He turned to look at me with shock on his face, and I smiled. Shock was an emotion, and it was an expression. It was better than nothing.

"Hi," Gaara replied, his expression once again cold and unreadable.

"Where are we headed to?" I asked, hoping to see another hint of emotion.

"Honichi," Gaara said, his eyes focused on something up ahead.

"I've heard of that place," I said, scratching my cheek and looking ahead as well, "Shikamaru told me about it. It's a medium sized village with a good market and a good place to stock up on stuff."

I turned my head to look at him just in time to catch him looking at me.

"Shikamaru?" He asked, still looking at me.

"My father wanted me to have a good education, so he hired me a teacher," I explained with a shrug. Gaara didn't respond, and I found myself searching my mind for another topic. I must have been rusty from the past month's lack of anything social, because it took me a good five minutes to find something to say.

"Are we stocking up, then?" I asked, searching his face for any trace of emotion. I'm not sure why, but I just wanted to see something there again.

"Yes," Gaara answered.

"Oh," I said, and once again the conversation stopped. Man, this guy had a real knack at killing conversations.

Approximately five more minutes later:

"Kankurou told me that you two went after the Akatsuki the other night," I mentioned, really desperate now. In all my years of entertaining guests and making small talk, this was the most work I had to do to maintain a steady flow of socializing.

Gaara didn't say anything, just looked at me again. I was disappointed to see that it was still lacking emotion.

"Did you get hurt?" I asked, concerned. I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes, but he looked away before I was certain I wasn't seeing things.

"No," Gaara said, slowing to a stop, "We'll stop for lunch, now."

"Is it ok if I sit by you?" I asked, clasping my hands behind my back and looking at him hopefully. I knew what it was like to be lonely. Living in a castle with basically no friends could get awfully lonely. My father couldn't always give me his company, and before Shikamaru, I had no friends.

"No," Gaara said, crossing his arms. He must have seen the hurt and disappointment on my face because he added, "I need to check the area."

I nodded, even though I was still sore from the rejection, and found my way over to where Temari and Kankurou were.

"He's going to check the area," I said, noticing their questioning stares. Temari left to gather some firewood and Kankurou nodded slightly, still looking at me like I had grown another head, "What?"

"Nothing," He said, stacking the sticks in a small pile and pulling out his flint.

I sighed and sat down beside the fire, looking over my shoulder at where Gaara had been standing a few minutes earlier. _Was I too annoying? Did I talk too much?_

"We'll probably reach Honichi before dinner," Temari said, sitting down on the side of me not already occupied by Kankurou.

"Have you been there before?" I asked, interested. This would be my first time, besides when I snuck out to the town nearest my castle, that I'd be in a town.

"Oh, a couple times. It's not the most beautiful or biggest thing we've seen, but it's okay considering some of the places we've passed through," Kankurou said, poking the fire with a stick while Temari pulled out a pan from one of the many traveling bags.

I looked over my shoulder again, but Gaara wasn't back yet. I didn't want to seem obsessive, so to appear nonchalant; I casually looked around the clearing. _See? I'm not looking to see if Gaara is back, I'm bored and I'm checking out the clearing._

It wasn't really that much of a clearing, actually. Trees pressed in all around, and most of the free space was taking up from the bags and fire. I peered out into the forest, and saw a multitude of greens and browns.

It was beautiful, and I felt a rush of happiness to be out here and enjoying life. I felt free, and it was a wonderful feeling. I was like the bird, free to fly where I pleased. Or, maybe I could be like the sun, and see the whole world!

I was giddy with all the possibilities! Wait until I tell Shikamaru about my adventures! Except…Shikamaru wasn't here. Just as quickly as the happiness, sadness and homesickness swooped down on me. Would I ever see my father again? Shikamaru? The maids who dressed me every morning?

"Will you be passing through the kingdom Kumamoto?" I asked, facing the fire again.

"That's pretty far from here," Temari said, "Why?"

"That's where I live," I said, "Well, at least where my home is."

"Ah," Temari said, nodding, "I do think we pass through there. But, it really depends on Gaara. We go where he wants, period."

I nodded to show that I understood and feel silent.

"While we're waiting for the food to finish, want to go get some water with me?" Temari asked, holding up the water skins.

"Sure," I said. I stood up, brushing off the seat of my pants, and followed her.


	11. The Girl Who Cried Monster

**Chapter 10: The Girl Who Cried Monster  
**_(In which the Princess begins to have doubts and ultimately doesn't know what to think)_

An apple rolled in our direction from the spilt fruit basket. The girl, who had been holding the basket a few seconds earlier, screamed and ran back into the town.

"Wh-," I started, but stopped short when Gaara turned to look at me. He looked annoyed and…scary. So, I clamped my mouth shut, setting it in a firm line. Instead, I turned to look at the fruit and they (Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou) all resumed walking.

I leaned over and picked up the apple and the rest of the fruit littering the ground, set them in the basket, and picked up the basket. I tucked it under my arm and picked up my pace to catch up with them.

We walked, together, up the road to the town, and nobody questioned why I had picked up the basket. When we reached the town, I was shocked to see a group of town people, possibly all of the citizens who lived there, gathered on the road just inside the town.

Feeling scared, I was sure people didn't normally gather to meet every person who entered their town -especially with men looking menacing and women looking terrified-, I stepped closer to Gaara.

There was tenseness in the air, but as I stepped closer to Gaara, I felt like I had entered his calm bubble, and the tenseness inside myself eased away. How could Gaara stand there so stoic and unaffected? How he did it, I don't know, but it was infectious, and I was relieved to be close to him. I also felt safer standing by the man with the icy stare and chain mail.

"Stay out of our town, Monster!" A man with dark hair and light eyes called from the front ranks of the gathered people. Everyone around him nodded in agreement, even the terrified women.

"Monster?" I whispered with a gasp.

"Go away! You are not welcome here!" Another man shouted.

"Monster!"

"Murderer!"

"Stay out!"

"Monster!"

"Leave us alone!"

Everyone was shouting out at once, and somebody threw a rock and hit Gaara in the chest. It bounced off his chest plate, and his glare didn't falter. Then another rock was thrown. Then two more rocks.

"Stop!" I yelled, standing in front of the still crazily-calm Gaara, and everything dropped to silence. The people froze, looking at me with surprise and hanging-open mouths.

"Ino," Gaara said.

"He's not a monster!" I yelled, "He saved my life!"

"He doesn't save lives! He takes them!" The raven-haired man shouted.

"I still live, don't I? Gaara saved me from the Akatsuki!" I yelled, still standing in front of Gaara and feeling tears prickling at my eyes.

The citizens began murmuring and muttering amongst themselves.

"Ino," Gaara repeated.

"What?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"Give them the basket," He said, walking past me, "We need to stock up and move on."

Gaara walked through the crowd, it parted for him. Not out of respect, though. No. Not out of love or admiration. They parted because they feared him, they didn't want him to touch them. They didn't want him to look at them.

I was so confused. Temari said they had passed through this town a couple of times. Honichi, where they stocked up. But, why had the townspeople reacted to his presence so violently? Why had the girl screamed when she spotted them?

I had so many questions, and no answers. No solutions. I looked to Temari, but I knew now was not the time to ask. I would ask later, when we were in camp. When Gaara wasn't around.

Temari was already following Gaara, walking through the part, but Kankurou was waiting for me. Looking at me with concerned eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked me. I wiped my face and realized I was crying.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, tucking the basket under my arm once again and walking through the crowd, Kankurou following close behind me. I stopped when I spotted the girl in the crowd. She was clutching tightly to who I assumed was her mother, her hands balled up in the dress fabric.

"Here's your basket," I said, setting the basket in front of the girl. Taking a deep breath and squeezing my mother's ring tightly in my hand, I turned and walked on down the path. Up farther ahead I saw Temari waiting under a tree, with Gaara nowhere in sight. I turned to look at Kankurou.

"I'm so confused," I said quietly.

"I know you are," He answered, just as quietly. I crossed my arms and pouted, realizing he wasn't going to be giving me any answers. At least not just yet.

Gaara, couldn't be a monster. Could he?

"_No," He said, simply. I saw that he was wet, like I was, and I remembered an arm wrapping around my waist, taking me to safety. _

"_You rescued me," I said, "You saved my life." _

_Then, I did something I've been doing a lot lately. I cried._

"_Did you not want me to save you?" He asked. Through my tears, I saw that he looked uncomfortable. I laughed, and rubbed my eyes._

"_Ino," Gaara said. I stopped and turned to look at him, "I found this."_

…

_He held up a silver chain with a golden ring attached to it, and I felt my heart leap with joy. My mother's ring!_

"_It had your name on it," He said, holding it out to me. I reached out to take it, and squeezed it tightly in my hand._

…

_But…walking up ahead all by himself…Gaara looked so lonely. I felt bad for him. Taking a deep breath, and making a decision, I picked up my pace and fell into step beside the red-haired man. After all, he saved my life._

"_Hi," I said, when I caught up with him. He turned to look at me with shock on his face, and I smiled. Shock was an emotion, and it was an expression. It was better then nothing._

"_Hi," Gaara replied, his expression once again cold and unreadable._

No, Gaara couldn't be a monster. He just couldn't.

"_It's probably best they escaped," I said, "I hate to think of you guys fighting them. It'd be unfair to you two, anyways. The Akatsuki outnumber you greatly."_

"_You haven't heard of Gaara before?" Kankurou asked, looking at me strangely._

"_No, I haven't. Before I was kidnapped, I had never even heard of the Akatsuki," I admitted._

I released my grip on the ring, letting it fall against my chest on the silver chain, when we approached Temari.

"Here," She said, handing my some gold coins, "Go buy yourself some clothes and meet us back at this tree."

"Where's Gaara?" I asked, cradling the coins with both hands close to my stomach.

"Who knows?" Temari said with a shrug, "But we'll meet up with him before we leave."


	12. A Cryptic Message

**Chapter 11: A Cryptic Message  
**_(In which the Princess encounters strange things and is a bit dramatic in her stress)_

I walked down the street, reading the store names as I passed them. Then I stopped and looked up at a weather-worn sign hanging above me. The words were a slightly faded forest green over plain wood.

_Honichi Armory_ it read in loopy cursive. I lowered my eyes to the right and studied the door. It was a heavy door made of solid, light wood. I didn't know enough about different woods to guess which specific one it was, but it was a nice color.

I hesitated for a moment, with my hand raised as if to push the door open. I was sure to find practical clothes in there, but would there be any female clothes?

"I'll never know until I try," I said to myself quietly and pushed the door open. It was heavy, just like it looked, and I had to press my shoulder against it to get it open.

"How can I help yo-," The man started, turning around and seeing me. Something like shock registered on his face, "What are you doing in here, lil' lady?"

"To buy something," I said as if it were extremely obvious. Which it was.

"Uh, alright," He said, seemingly recovering from his shock quickly.

"Do you have anything suited for women?" I asked, looking around the store.

"I do, but I don't think I have anything for someone as small as you," He said, "Most women who shop here are…beastly."

"Beastly?" I said, giggling. Though, I was glad he wasn't referring to me as 'beastly'. The man smiled and turned away from me.

"Follow me," He called over his shoulder, and lead me towards the back, "This is the smallest thing I have."

I gasped.

The man was standing in front of something similar to what Temari wore, but it was one piece, a dress, instead of a shirt and a skirt. It was a dark green with light tan trim, had slits all the way up to the hip, and a tan belt wrapped around the waist. It had a v-neck that was semi-deep and a white undershirt beneath it.

If it had been purple, it would have been perfect.

"I don't have any light chain mail," The man said, "I don't order much of it and the traders don't come for another week."

"I love it," I said, "How much does it cost?"

Something clutched at my heart when the man told me the price, which was more than Temari gave me, because it was perfect. I needed it. My heart was set on this one.

This. One.

"Hm…If I could find Gaara…maybe he'd give me a little bit more money…," I thought aloud, staring at the outfit.

"O-on second thought, you can just have it," The man said. I whipped my head up to look at the man in surprise.

"Just have it? But-," I asked, my eyes wide with confusion.

"I'll never sell it, anyway, so just take it," He said, "Like I said, only beastly women come in here."

"But-,"

"Just take it!" The man said, shoving the outfit at me, "You can have these boots, too."

Dumbfounded, I took the outfit and boots he shoved into my arms and allowed him to push me out of the store.

"Thank you for visiting my store," He said, closing the door shut and I heard a lock click into place.

"What did I do?" I asked the door. It didn't answer, because, it was just a door. I sighed, and walked down the street, looking for a place to change. I didn't want a repeat of what happened at the Armory, so I headed towards a thick clump of trees.

I squeezed through the closely-growing trunks and interlocked branches, pushing through until I reached a small spot, about six tree trunks wide, not filled with trees and began to change.

I quickly pulled on the green and tan dress and dropped Temari's dress and pants somewhere off to the side. Then I tugged on the tan boots and carefully laced them up. They were a soft, leather with tough soles. They'd protect my feet and help me tread more quietly through the forest.

I was reaching over to collect my clothes, when I saw some blood on the tree trunk and in the tall, wild grasses at its base. My eyes followed the red trail, leading off to the opposite side. I peered through the branches and barely had time to turn to the side before I hurled.

Laying twisted in the trees, was a freshly-killed body. It was of a young man, with dark, brown hair and beautiful tanned skin. I didn't see much more detail than that, because I couldn't bring myself to look at the body again.

I turned away from it, grabbed my clothes, and ran from the grove, scratching my arms as I slid back through the trunks quickly.

What if the murderer was still around? My heart jumped up into my throat and my body was shivering. I felt like I was going to faint.

When I reached the road again, I felt a hand on the small of my back and I jumped in surprise and fear. _I'm dead. This is it. I saw the body and now I'm going to die too._

"Tell Gaara that he might slow us down, but he won't stop us. We will do as his father has ordered," A man said. His face was right next to mine and his breath was tickling my cheek. Out of the corner of my eye I saw light, blonde hair.

I wanted to say something witty. Something about Gaara, that defended his strength. I wanted to ask about his father. But, my mouth was frozen shut in fear. The man laughed, and his touch left my back.

My knees gave out, I fell to the ground, and I rolled up into a ball. The stress of the day was too much, and I sobbed into the dirt of the road.

And that's how Temari found me later.

"Ino?" Temari asked. I felt something touch my hair, and figured that it was her. I groaned and tried to push up, but my arms were shaking.

"Ino!" Kankurou called, appearing at Temari's side. They both reached for me, but I shook my head.

I took a deep breath, and tried again. I stood up, shakily, and when I was on my feet, I reached for Kankurou and Temari. They held onto my arms, and steadied me.

"Did somebody attack you?" Kankurou asked, an angry look on his face. I shook my head again.

"What happened?" Temari pressed.

I reached into the pouch attached on my belt and deposited the coins into Temari's hands.

"When do we meet up with Gaara?" I rasped.

Temari and Kankurou exchanged a look.


	13. Long Due Explanations

**Chapter 12: Long Due Explanations  
**_(In which the Princess hears a sad story and struggles to understand a person better)_

"We'll meet up with him soon," Temari said, her eyes full of worry, "But tell us what happened. Don't lie," She said when I shook my head again, "Something did happen, otherwise you wouldn't have been on the ground and your cheeks wouldn't be streaked with tears and dirt."

I took a deep steadying breath.

"I need some answers," I said, with determined eyes, "Now."

Temari and Kankurou exchanged looks again and I frowned.

"I guess I'll just ask Gaara," I said, tucking a blonde strand hair behind my ear.

"It's getting dark, we should set up camp," Kankurou said, leaning in to slip his arm around me, but I stepped back out of reach.

"But-," I protested, angry that they were trying to get out of giving me answers.

"We," Temari interrupted, "will answer your questions after camp is set up."

I nodded my head, and allowed Kankurou to slip his arm around me this time. It wasn't until then that I realized that I was exhausted, and I was happy for Kankurou's support.

By the time Temari stopped and claimed a clearing as our new camp site, I had stumbled about a hundred times, and I was sure that the only reason I was standing was because of Kankurou.

"Thanks," I said, as he helped me sit down by a tree. I watched as two tents were set up and fire was started.

After starting the fire, Kankurou helped me back up and brought me over to the fire side. Temari draped a blanket over my shoulders.

"Are you ready?" Temari asked me, and I nodded eagerly. Finally, everything would make sense.

"Gaara is the youngest of us, our little brother," Temari started, looking into the fire, "Our mother died during his child birth. Where we come from…when the mother dies during birth, it is believed that the child born harbored a demon. If the child acted normal, then it meant that it had been pure at heart and had resisted the demon. But, Gaara didn't act normal. He was…a strange child.

"Gaara rarely slept, and he was talented with weapons. He used to hit trees with a stick, and sometimes if another child made him mad, he'd hit them with the sticks. At times, it seemed that there were two Gaara's. The scared, innocent Gaara and the evil, bad-tempered Gaara.

"The people from our Kingdom believed that Gaara was a demon, and treated him with hate and cruelty. This is the reason Gaara is so hardened and unemotional. But, the reason he is so cold is because of our uncle.

"Our father didn't care much for us, so we were cared for by our Mother's brother, Yashamaru. Yashamaru was the closest thing any of us had to a father figure and we all loved him. Gaara included. But, one night he tried to kill Gaara.

"I don't really know much about the fight, just that Gaara ended up killing Yashamaru and our uncle told Gaara that his father had ordered him to kill Gaara and that he hated Gaara. Ever since that night, innocent Gaara was lost.

"Our father saw Gaara's talent, and instead of trying to kill him again, he hired a man to train Gaara in the art of swords and war. At age seven, Gaara surpassed his trainer. It was like the sword was an extension of his arm, and he moved with this amazing grace."

"At age seven? So, when he killed Yashamaru he was-," I said, shocked.

"Gaara was six," Kankurou said.

"Six?" I repeated, with wide eyes. Temari nodded.

"When Gaara surpassed Baki, he accidentally killed him during their spar. After that, our father sent him to train and to fight in the war. Baki was our strongest warrior, and if Gaara could beat him, then he could be successful in war.

"By the time he was nine, Gaara was the leader of the army, and many people feared him. He lead the Army for many years and won every battle. He never lost. One summer, a group called the Akatsuki," Temari said, "attacked the main city in our kingdom and almost killed Gaara. Ever since that night, Gaara has been tracking the Akatsuki with the intent of killing them. That is why we've been traveling, and that is how we found you."

"After you gave me the money to buy some clothes, I went to _Honichi Armory _and bought this. It was too expensive, but when I mentioned Gaara, the man gave this to me. He told me he'd never sale it anyway," I said, holding up my end of the bargain and telling them what had happened to me, "After that I went into the woods to change. When I finished dressing, I saw blood.

"I followed the trail of blood and saw a dead man with dark hair and skin. I was terrified that the murderer was still around and ran from the clearing back to the road. Once I was on the road, another man placed his hand on my back and told me to warn Gaara that they weren't giving up. That they'd do as they were ordered."

"The dead man and the man who told you to warn Gaara are men hired from our father to kill Gaara," Kankurou said, poking the fire with a stick, "The dead man…his murderer was Gaara."

"Gaara…," I said, not believing it. Sure, he was emotionless…but a murderer? I found it hard to believe.

"Ino," Temari said, I turned to look at her, "The most emotion I've seen out of Gaara ever is when he's around you. And, when he saved you, he wasn't wearing his usual impassive expression. His eyes and face were soft. I didn't tell you this right away, because I didn't want you to be afraid of Gaara. You could be good for him."

_Around me? What's so special about me?_

"We'll talk more about this another time. Gaara should be here soon," Temari said, looking up at the moon.

I nodded and we all fell into a collective silence, waiting for Gaara to arrive at the camp.

I opened my still-heavy-from-sleep eyes and stretched with a yawn. Relaxing my body and scratching an itch on my arm, I wondered what woke me. I glanced around and noticed that I had fallen asleep on the ground beside the fire, still covered in the blanket that Temari had brought me.

I sat up and saw that Kankurou and Temari were also asleep by the fire. Still wondering what woke me up, I continued to glance around, trying to discover the source. When I was about to blame it on being uncomfortable on the cold ground, I heard Gaara's voice.

"It's foolish not to have someone stay up to watch," Gaara said, his voice low, "Unless you were planning on me doing that, which is foolish as well."

"Gaara," I said, smiling and patting the spot next to me by the fire, "We were waiting for you to get back and I guess we fell asleep. I don't even remember closing my eyes."

He made a sort of snorting noise, but he walked across the camp and sat beside me. I turned to look at him, mostly out of the corner of my eye, and admired his handsome looks in the firelight. The red-tinted light moving on his hair made it look like he had a head of fire, and it cast dark shadows beneath his jade eyes and along his cheek bone.

"_Tell Gaara that he might slow us down, but he won't stop us. We will do as his Father has ordered." _

"Uh…Gaara?" I ventured, pulling my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs, and resting my chin on my knees.

"Hm?" He asked, and I could see him looking at me in the edges of my vision and took a deep breath, willing myself to go on.

"Today, I-I, a man approached me…from behind…and he told me," I said and, still out of the corner of my eye, I saw him narrow his eyes, "…to tell you that you might slow them down, but you can't stop them. T-that they'll do what your father has ordered."

Gaara stood up suddenly, his fists clenched at his sides and, startled, I turned to look at him.

"Ino, you better go to your tent and get some sleep. I'll bring Temari in there as well," Gaara said, glaring at the fire.

"Gaara…," I murmured.

"I'll take the first watch, now go rest."

I grabbed the blanket and did as he said.

It was the best conversation I had with him yet, the most that we'd exchanged without me forcing topics, but it was short and had ended with him sending me to bed.

As I brushed my hair and watched Gaara bring in Temari, and then tuck myself in to bed, I realized: Gaara was probably going to stay up the whole night. That no one else would take a watch.

No. Gaara wasn't a murderer. In my eyes, he was a good guy. A young man who was dealt a bad hand in life. A innocent, lost boy who suffered. And when I at last fell asleep, he was in my dreams.


	14. Of Andromeda, Sea Monsters, and Gaara

**Chapter 13: Of Andromeda, Sea Monsters, and Gaara  
**_(In which the Princess hears a good story from a master story teller)_

When I woke up, it was still dark out. Very dark. I blinked a couple times to make sure that my eyes were open, and when I sure they were, I sat up. I pushed down my blanket, straightened my new dress out, and crawled over to the tent flap, carefully avoiding Temari.

After I pushed through the tent flap and kneeled in front of the fine cloth tent, I saw Gaara still sitting by the fire. His back was bent and he rested one elbow on his leg, staring at the low, dying fire.

I stood up, brushed the leaves away from my knees, and walked over to Gaara. I sat down next to him beside the fire and turned to look at him. In the light of the fire, the bags under his eyes really stood out.

"I'll take the next watch," I said, still watching him. Like a statue turning back into a person in some sort of fairy tale, Gaara sat up taller and turned to look at him.

"You'll take the next watch?" He said, staring at me with his tired jade eyes, "What do you suppose you'd do if we're attacked?"

"Scream?" I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"What if they get you before you can scream?" Gaara said, his face still holding no emotion.

"If you want, I can wake Kankurou to watch with me," I suggested. Gaara looked back at the fire, and it was quiet for a while. I knew it was rude to stare, but I watched the fire light dance across his face, and once again thought about how attractive he was.

"Do what you want," Gaara said, standing up and stretching, "I'll wake Kankurou."

I nodded my head and smiled, hoping he didn't notice my shoulders sag. What'd I expect? For him to smile and say, "Thanks for noticing that I was exhausted and caring enough to take the watch so I could get some sleep."

I poked at a stick and watched it crackle while I waited for Kankurou to sit beside me.

"Good morning," Kankurou said, his voice thick with sleep.

"Good morning," I replied, poking the stick again. It was quiet again and I sighed. Kankurou seemed to pick up on this, for he pointed to the dark sky.

"Do you know anything of the constellations?" He asked, when I shook my head he continued on to say, "You see that one? It's called Andromeda, the Princess."

"Andromeda," I repeated, squinting up at the stars scattered across the heavens.

"Andromeda's mother was very beautiful, but also very vain. She bragged that she was the most beautiful of all, even more beautiful than the queen of the gods, Hera. Hera didn't take this too kindly and sent a sea monster to attack the kingdom. The only way that they could be spared, Hera told them, was to offer up their beautiful, virgin daughter.

"Andromeda's parents didn't want to sacrifice her, but they had to for the good of the kingdom. So they chained Andromeda out on the rock, to await the sea monster. While she waited for the monster, Perseus, happened to fly by on the winged sandals he borrowed from Hermes. Seeing Andromeda, he fell in love with her instantly.

"He stopped and asked the poor Andromeda why she was chained to the rock by the sea. At first, Andromeda refrained from answering because Perseus was a man, and it wasn't proper for a woman to speak to a man. But, after Perseus's prompting, Andromeda told him.

"Just when she finished telling him the story behind her predicament, the sea monster rose from the sea. Perseus, hopelessly in love with the beautiful Andromeda, jumped in front of the chained princess and killed the sea monster. In reward for saving their daughter and kingdom, Perseus was given Andromeda's hand in marriage.

"That's the story behind that constellation. Andromeda, the chained princess. It's supposed to be a woman with her arms spread out, chained," Kankurou said. I stared at the fire, transfixed, as I listened to his story.

When he finished, I looked up into the sky, trying to see the woman with her arms spread out, imaging myself in her place. The story related to my own. The differences were that my dad didn't bring the Akatsuki onto the kingdom and that Gaara wasn't hopelessly in love with me.

"Kankurou, tell me another one, won't you?" I asked, not wanting to think about my dad. I missed him so much, and just thinking about him brought tears to my eyes.

"Anything for you," Kankurou said, chuckling. He looked up at the starry sky for a moment, contemplating which constellation to pick next. When he finally picked a constellation, his face showed it, bursting with a smile almost too big for his face.

"Ursa Major is about a wood-nymph name Callisto who was a huntress…" Kankurou started, but we both froze at a soft sound. Had it been day and had he been speaking in his normal volume, we wouldn't have heard it.

I recognized the sound from my months of captivity as the distinctive noise of an arrow being loaded. Remembering how I first met Kankurou, I leapt at him and knocked him down to the ground.

It was good timing, because an arrow flew through the air just where his head had been. I rolled over and army crawled to the tent, knowing only that I needed to wake Gaara up. I heard Kankurou scrambling and the sound of a sword being pulled from it's sheath as I reached the tent entrance.

Afraid to call his name, lest the attackers heard in the still night, I crawled over to Gaara's cot. I put a hand on his shoulder to shake him awake and suddenly I was on my back. Gaara had spun me around onto my back in a smooth, fluid motion, one arm around my neck and the other around my stomach.

I was restrained against his body, my back against his chest. I could feel his warmth every where his body touched mine. I froze, holding my breath.

"G-Gaa…ra…," I stuttered.

"Ino?" Gaara asked, releasing me and sitting up.

"We're under attack," I whispered, sitting up now and rubbing my neck.

"Stay here," Gaara said, leaping to his feet and ducking quickly out of the tent. I crawled over to the tent flap and watched Gaara run swiftly over to where Kankurou was battling four armed men.

His sword clinked louder and louder with each blow, the fight becoming more and more intense. Gaara swept in undetected, stabbing one in the back, barely pausing before wrenching his blade out and attacking the next one. The stabbed man fell to his ground beside the fire, his fatal wound dark against the fire light.

I watched with wide, horror-filled eyes but couldn't look away. Catching bits of Gaara and Kankurou here and there among the chaos. I watched as one of the men stumbled backward into the tent where Temari slept.

"No!" I said quietly, praying fervently that the girl who had become a close to my friend to remain safe and sound asleep.

"No what, _Andromeda_?" Taunted an unfamiliar voice. I yelped and shrank back into the tent. The man had started into the tent, and I was against the opposite tent wall when the man was knocked aside and replaced by Gaara.

He gave me a quick glance, before returning to the fight. This time I didn't crawl back to watch the brawl, instead sinking onto the cot that Gaara had just vacated. I wrapped myself up in the blanket and flattened myself as much as I could. That way, I could be mistaken for a pile of blankets if anyone else chose to look around the tent.

Hearing the clashing of metal on metal and occasional grunts of pain, I thought about Gaara, Perseus, Andromeda, and a fearsome sea monster.


	15. Who Done Did It? Or Speculations

**Chapter 14: Who Done Did It? (Or Speculations)  
**_(In which the Princess is embarrassed and is asked a difficult question)_

After a while, had it been ten minutes or ten hours, I didn't know, the sound of battle died away. I heard Gaara's voice and he said something quietly. I strained my ears catching the words 'not' and 'who'.

I remained perfectly still, trying to catch more of their muttered conversation. But, I couldn't make out any more of the words and soon I heard light footsteps that grew louder with each step.

The tent rustled as one of the brothers entered the tent. Whoever it was, paused at the tent entrance before crossing over to where I was laying in Gaara's bed and blankets.

"Did the fight make you tired?" Came Gaara's voice. I looked up and saw him standing above me, a faint almost-smile on his face. I smiled broadly up at him.

"I thought that I'd be out of the way, hidden here in the blankets," I said. Flickering firelight crept into the tent and framed his face, giving him a sort of halo and softening the edges of his features.

"Oh, hidden in the blankets. The first place someone would look when searching for someone in a tent," Gaara said, his eyes wandering to something off to the left of me.

"Give me some credit, I tried to make it look like there were just blankets here," I said, his eyes finding their way back to me when I spoke.

"Blankets that breathe?" Gaara asked, his voice even, not fitting his sarcastic words. I felt myself blush. I thought I'd been smart and hidden, but it'd only taken Gaara five seconds to spot me and my hiding spot. I sat up and let the blankets fall from around me and pool at my lap.

"Gaara…who were those guys?" I asked, "Did your Father send them?"

If Gaara was surprised that I knew about his Father, he didn't show it, and looked at me with thoughtful eyes.

"No, my Father didn't send them," Gaara said after a few moments. I searched his face, trying to see anything that would help me understand.

"Not your Father…then who?" I asked. He was still looking at me with thoughtful eyes and paused again before answering.

"I don't know who they are," Gaara answered, haltingly, "Kankurou thought that they were after you."

"After me?" I repeated, surprised. Gaara didn't respond, instead he turned and headed back out by the fire. I stood up and followed after him, quietly standing beside him.

"You saved my life," Kankurou said, nodding at me.

"It was nothing. I heard the arrow being strung and I reacted," I said, shrugging my shoulders and hoping that the fire light hid my embarrassed flush. It wasn't like I was some hero or anything, I was just lucky.

"You still saved my life," He said stubbornly.

"You recognized the sound of an arrow being strung?" Came Temari's voice from the other side of the fire. She was wiping three blades and I felt suddenly worthless. She must have woken up from the noise of the fight and jumped into the foray. I was the only one who hadn't helped. The only one who'd hidden in the tent.

"Do you think it was Akatsuki who attacked us?" I asked, eager to change the subject. I didn't feel I deserved the impressed tones of their voices. I hid. I didn't do anything of value. It was good chance, good faith. Not good skill.

"No, we don't know anything of them. We only have this," Kankurou answered, holding up a broken arrow. It wasn't a clean break, rather it was splintered and some of it was still hanging by a thread.

"It doesn't look like an Akatsuki arrow," I said, taking the supple arrow in my hand. It was long and strong, made to pierce the victim straight through. As I played with the soft plume at the tail, I wondered who it could be. It was enough to have to worry about Gaara's Father and the Akatsuki, but now it seemed we had another to worry about.

"I wonder why they waited till early morning," Temari wondered aloud as the sky lightened, meaning that dawn was breaking. A lot had happened already today, and the day had barely begun.

"They might have been waiting for a switch in watch," Kankurou spoke up again, "Who ever woke up to take next watch would have been more sleepy and off guard. Having just woke up. But, I think you threw them off, Ino. They hadn't expected you to be there. They might have had second thoughts about hurting a girl."

"No, one did try to attack me," I said, looking over at Gaara. _"No what, _Andromeda_?" Taunted an unfamiliar voice. I yelped and shrank back into the tent. The man had started into the tent, and I was against the opposite tent wall when the man was knocked aside and replaced by Gaara. He gave me a quick glance, before returning to the fight. _

"They could have been from the village. Villagers are afraid of Gaara and would have waited until he switched watches and went to sleep," Kankurou mused.

"But why?" Temari asked, staring into the fire thoughtfully, "The villagers never attacked us before. I agree with what you said earlier. That they were after Ino."

"If they aren't the Akatsuki, why would they be after me?" I asked, perplexed. Though Kumamoto was not small by any means, there were bigger and grander kingdoms out there. Maybe they were after our allies instead. I started from my thoughts when Gaara rejoined the conversation.

"That's what I was wondering," Gaara said. Kankurou frowned and I gawked. What did he mean?

"Gaara-," I started, not sure what to say, "I…I don't know why they're after me. I can't remember seeing an arrow like this before."

There was a few tense seconds, in which everybody looked to Gaara. Kankurou was still frowning, and his form was agitated. Temari looked fearful. I couldn't even imagine the look on my face.

"Very well, it isn't doing much good just standing here wondering. Let's head off. We're wasting sunlight," Gaara said. There was a collective sigh of relief, and we all busied ourselves with packing up camp.

"Ino," Temari said, tying a bundle of blankets. I looked up from the clothes I was folding. Seeing that she had my attention she continued on, "You said you were from Kumamoto?"

"Yes, I am," I answered, wondering where she was going with this.

"There's not very many blondes up there," Temari commented, and I froze, "Except for among Royalty."


	16. The Kidnapped Princess Complex and Ocean

**Chapter 15: The Kidnapped Princess Complex and the Ocean  
**_(In which the Princess tells a sort-of lie and remembers and old friend)_

"It's uncommon, but not unheard of," I answered after a brief, tense pause. I didn't like lying to Temari, but I had just met these people. I had been with them for less than a week. Granted, Gaara had saved my life and they hadn't done anything to harm me.

That could all change as soon as they found out who I was. I didn't want to be a kidnapped princess again. I didn't want to be a ransom to force my father bend to other's will. So, for now, I would keep this information secret and, therefore, safe.

"Hm," Temari hummed as if she were deep in thought. I felt horribly guilty and wrong for lying, so I finished packing up my stuff as quickly as I could. The sooner I escaped the confines of this tent the better. The day had barely begun and already I was stressed beyond belief.

As I made to exit the tent I ran into Gaara.

"Oh! Gaara…," I said, trailing off as my knees grew weak. He was standing close to me and I could smell a faint spicy smell, reminding me of the foreign soap that was brought on caravans for trade in Kumamoto.

I gripped onto his arm, feeling weird and unbalanced. He didn't move to support me, but he also didn't move away.

"We're going to travel all day today. The next town isn't too far from here," Gaara said. "We should reach it by nightfall if we keep a good pace."

"I'll…I'll tell Temari," I said, taking a deep breath and releasing his arm. What had come over me? Was I really that stressed that I was feeling faint?

"Ino," Gaara said. I stopped mid-turn and looked at him over my shoulder. "You've been through a lot tonight. Talk to Temari about it and see what she can give you to help out. I can't have you fainting while there are people after us."

I nodded, unable to answer him, and then fled back into the tent. I found it easier to breath when I wasn't so close to the undeniably attractive red-head.

"T-Temari," I stuttered, still a little shaken. "Gaara told me to ask you if there was anything I could take that would calm my nerves."

As Temari searched through one of the recently packed bags, I thought of my father once again. What was he doing right now? How much did he miss me? What about Shikamaru? What was he doing now that his mentor is missing? And the Akatsuki? Were they pretending to still have me in their custody?

"Drink this," Temari said and I did without hesitation. It was bitter and burned all the way down, but once the cup was empty I felt better.

"Thank you," I said genuinely and gave her the empty cup. I left the tent, not running into Gaara this time, fortunately or unfortunately, and saw that a thick fog had descended upon the camp in the time that Temari and I had packed.

"Kankurou? Gaara?" I asked, barely able to see two feet in front of myself.

"Right here," Kankurou said, making me yelp when he suddenly appeared beside me. It only took a few minutes to tear down the two tents and soon enough we were on our way to the next town.

"Tonight we'll sleep in an inn," Temari said, sounding excited. I was excited too; it'd been a while since I'd had a proper bath let alone a proper bed.

"Temari probably won't sleep at the inn," Kankurou said, and I could see him wink. We walked closer than usual, fearful that we would lose one another in the thick fog.

"Shut up," Temari said, turning bright red. With embarrassment or anger, I wasn't sure which.

"She has a sweetheart there," Kankurou told me in an undertone. I looked up ahead at Gaara, his red hair barely dulled in the grayness of the fog. I wondered if he had a sweetheart in a town somewhere.

There was a silence as we walked and I picked my speed up so I could once walk next to Gaara, pushing the thought of a sweetheart out of my head.

"Why's there such a heavy fog?" I asked him. "We don't have fogs like this in Kumamoto."

"It's because of the ocean," Gaara answered quietly.

"The ocean?" I repeated, awe-struck. I had never seen the ocean, Kumamoto was far away from the ocean. If we were by the ocean then we were farther away from my home than I had thought.

We fell silent again. I was starting to become accustomed to these silences, for they seemed to happen a lot in Gaara's company.

"Gaara, what does the ocean look like?" I asked, breaking the silence when my curiosity became too strong to ignore.

"What do you think it looks like? Water is water," Gaara snapped. I frowned, but didn't say anything. I wrapped my arms around myself and kept pace with him.

After another, lengthier silence Gaara turned to look at me. "You can see the ocean tonight after we've settled in town," He said, and I wondered if he felt bad for snapping at me earlier. It was hard to imagine Gaara ever feeling bad, though.

"Thank you," I said quietly, feeling excited. I had read several passages about the ocean and knew it was something that inspired many and stirred the blood. Besides, someone long ago told me that my eyes reminded him of the ocean.

It was weird to think about him now of all times. I had barely given Sasuke a thought in the past few years, even though he was the one suitor my father had always hoped I would end up with. His lands were not too far from where ours were, so I could visit.

I remembered my father bringing up how ideal it would be for me to marry him since he was a second son, he could inherit my father's lands since I couldn't as his daughter. Several years ago, his brother disappeared, making him the only son. If I were to marry him, then the two kingdoms would be combined and we'd be that much more powerful.

But, my father didn't want to pressure me. He said it was my choice who I would marry. For all his words, it never was unclear who he wished I would marry. I myself had always thought I would marry him. But, when his brother disappeared and his parents died, it was like he was a different person. My memories of a carefree boy with dark, dancing eyes and a ready smile did not match the somber, distant man who visited me as a suitor.

I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of my disappearance.

True to Gaara's word we reached the town just as the sun lowered itself beyond the rim of the horizon. I noticed as we walked down the main street that this town was at least double the size of the last town. I also noticed that Gaara didn't have a welcoming committee this time.

When we reached the inn, which was located at the center of the town, we split up, Kankurou and Gaara going to their room and Temari and I going to our own.

I looked out the window in our room and saw that the fog seemed to be lifting, but I couldn't see the ocean from this vantage.

"_Your eyes are really blue," Sasuke said, looking up from our game._

"_I know. I got them from my Father," I said, looking up as well._

"_They remind me of the ocean," Sasuke said, smiling._

"_The ocean? I've never seen the ocean," I said. I had only heard other's opinions of the ocean. I knew that it was large and you couldn't see the other side. I knew that people sailed ships across seas, that there were distant lands on the other side of the huge body of water. I knew that it was full of monsters. I knew that it was beautiful, but I had never seen it with my own eyes._

"_I've been there with my Father," Sasuke said. "We went because my Mother used to live in a castle near the ocean and we went to visit her family. Her sister was getting married."_

"_Was it beautiful?" I asked with awe in my voice._

"_The second most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life," He answered looking pointedly at me. I felt my cheeks grow warm as I blushed._

"_I would like to see it someday," I said, playing with the ends of my hair._

"_I'll take you to my aunt's castle, she inherited it you know, and we can spend all day swimming and looking for shells. Then, at night we can sit up on a sandy hill and watch the waves and star gaze," Sasuke said. "I'll take you there someday, I promise."_

"_I can't wait to see it. It sounds wonderful," I said._


	17. Midnight Trips

**Chapter 16: Midnight Trips  
**_(In which the Princess has a lovely evening, but is left hanging)_

"Ino?"

I was sitting on a large, flat rock just on the fringes of a forest. It was full of facets and gleamed bright white in the moonlight. I looked up and tried to pinpoint the voice that sounded so much like my father's.

"Father?" I asked, standing up and searching from my vantage up on top of the rock.

"Ino! Help me!" His voice came from somewhere in the forest.

"Gaara? Kankurou? Anybody?" I yelled. "I need someone to help me! My father's in trouble!" No one came to help me. After a few tense seconds I knew no one was coming to help me rescue my father and that I would have to do it on my own.

I slid down over the side of the rock and began running the instant my feet touched the ground. I rushed into the forest, following my father's cries. Angry branches caught in my hair, tore at my clothing, and crisscrossed all my exposed skin with long stinging scratches.

"Ino!"

"Father! Keep yelling so I can find you!" I called to him. He did as I asked and I stumbled wildly through the forest until I finally broke through into a clearing.

There was my father sitting on a tree stump with his hands bound behind his back. He was bruised almost beyond recognition and a wound on his shoulder was bleeding profusely.

"Ino! Hurry! Hurry before _he _gets back!" He said, struggling against the rope that kept him there.

"Before who gets back?"

My father froze and stared with horror over my shoulder. I turned around just in time for the man to grab me roughly around the shoulders.

"Thought you were going to save your Father, huh?" He asked, giving me a fierce shake. I set my mouth in a firm line to keep from whimpering. He was bruising me. "You're not going to answer me? Maybe you will when I do this."

The man threw me on the ground unceremoniously and stalked over to my father. He pulled a sword out of his sheath.

"No!" I cried, but it was too late.

Blood was everywhere. I sobbed as I watched my father's eyes go dull. The man turned to face me, staring straight into my soul with angry blue eyes.

"Gaara?" I whispered, horrified that the boy I was beginning to consider as one of my closest friends would commit the ultimate betrayal. I didn't recognize him anymore, he had become a completely different man. A stranger.

The red haired man shook his head and brought his long sword level, pointing it at my chin. I realized that I was mistaken and it wasn't Gaara, but Sasori. With a quick motion, he brought the sword down to end my life.

I woke up with a start, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. I realized that I had fallen asleep sitting in the frame of the window my hotel room. I was safe, in a hotel room, with Gaara and Kankurou to protect me. My father was back in his castle. Everyone was safe. It was just a dream.

But, it had seemed so real.

It wasn't until I reached up to scratch an itch that I realized I was crying. I angrily wiped the tears away. It wasn't real! Why was I getting so worked up over a dream? I'm pathetic! I -

A knock at the door cut across my thoughts. I stared at the door for a minute, not moving from my perch in the window. Who could it be at such an hour? Temari surely wasn't returning to the hotel, as Kankurou had predicted.

When the knock came again, this time more impatient sounding, I finally hopped down and crossed to the door. I opened it a slit, peering out into the hallway to see who it was. I saw a sliver of Gaara's face and, with a forced smile, opened the door fully.

"Oh, hello, Gaara," I greeted, standing aside so he could enter the room if he wanted to. He gave me a searching look. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything about my tear-stained cheeks.

"Temari's gone?" Gaara asked, looking around the room as if the blonde was going to pop out of nowhere. She didn't, of course.

"Yes," I answered. I hoped Temari wouldn't get in trouble. "Uhm, why are you here, Gaara? I mean…it's kind of late," I finished lamely.

"I promised you that I would show the ocean," Gaara stated.

"Show me the ocean? This late?" I asked, grabbing my jacket.

"I'll explain down on the beach. Come on. We'll have to go out the window," Gaara said, starting over to the window.

"Out the window?" I asked. I pulled my coat on as I followed his path to the window.

"I told you I would explain once we got to the beach," Gaara said, sounding impatient. He unlocked the window and pushed it up. It gave a small groan, but opened up well enough. Gaara climbed out the window and stood on the narrow top of the window below mine. He sidled along the window sill until he reached the rather convenient ladder that hung a foot or two to the left.

I leaned out the window and wondered how I was going to get over there. Climbing out this window was going to be a lot more difficult then climbing down my balcony had been. Gaara held out a hand and I grabbed it. He kept me steady as I put both my feet on the narrow ledge. Then he moved his hand to my back, and pressed me to the wall as I sidled across to where he was.

When I was safely on the ladder, Gaara removed his hand from my back.

"Wherever I am, there is danger. If anything happens, I want you to run back to this hotel and find Kankurou," Gaara said. He waited for me to nod in understanding before starting to climb down the ladder.

The ladder ended abruptly several feet above the ground. It was high enough that there was a great chance you could break something if you jumped from it. Gaara looked to make sure all was clear and then jumped. It took a lot of restraint not to cry out in surprise.

Gaara rolled as he hit the ground. It was a surprisingly graceful move. He stood beneath the ladder and held his hands up. Fear gripped at my stomach once I realized he meant for me to jump.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that this was Gaara, the man who could do anything. I closed my eyes tightly and let go of the ladder. There was a few seconds of terrifying free fall and then I felt strong arms bracing underneath me to break my fall. It wasn't the most graceful landing, but he had caught me and it hadn't hurt too bad.

Gaara held me for a moment so I could regain my senses and then put me down.

"Keep quiet," Gaara whispered, grabbing my wrist and leading me through a back alley and then through a small tree grove. Then the trees faded away and there were great rocks growing out of the ground and smaller rocks that rattled slightly under our feet.

We climbed over the rocks in silence, carefully picking our way to avoid making too much noise. It was clear that Gaara didn't want to be detected. Thinking of the dead man in the forest and the other man on the street, I shivered and knew that this was a measure to keep me safe. Surely Gaara was invincible and didn't need to go anywhere stealthily.

Finally we climbed over one last great rock and saw the vast blue of the ocean. I gasped and was amazed at the immense size of it. Somehow it was both exactly what was described to me and nothing like I had imagined.

I kept staring in wonder until I realized that Gaara was already standing down on the beach waiting for me. I carefully slid down the rock and landed softly on the sand. Sand! I had never seen such clear, white sand before.

I reached down to take my boots off so I could feel the sand between my toes, but Gaara stopped me.

"There will be plenty of time for that later. Right now I need to speak with you," Gaara said. I nodded and we both sat down in the sand with our backs against the large, smooth rock we had just climbed over.

"How did you know there was a ladder right outside my window?" I asked curiously as I gazed out at the beautiful ocean.

"The ladder is there so the roof and other areas can be accessed easily. It ends high enough to make it extremely difficult for thieves and what not to use for their advantage. If there's a leak on the roof, the repair man can use a ladder and connect it right to the other ladder already there," Gaara explained. I nodded because this made perfect sense. There was following silence, in which only the sounds of the ocean breeze and waves filled.

"Kankurou, Temari, and you are going to stay in hotel for another week. I have some business to attend to in a nearby town. I will return just before the end of the week and we will all board a ship," Gaara said, finally breaking the silence after a minute.

"A week? I thought we were only going to stay here for a night," I said, puzzled. "And what's this about a ship? What ship? Where too?"

"We're going to Naruto's castle. It's right on the beach and it's faster to reach by boat. I recently acquired some information that I have to share with him as soon as possible," Gaara answered readily.

"What am I supposed to do during this week?" I asked, my balance completely thrown from this unexpected turn of events.

"Learn how to swim?" Gaara said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't think I can," I said, shuddering as I looked out at the water. It was beautiful, alright, but terrifying as well. The waves crashed onto the beach with a force that suggested that the ocean's current was way stronger than a river's.

"You have to. Swimming is something that you need to know if you're going to board a ship. Temari will help you," Gaara said. I turned back to look at him and saw that he was giving me a stern look.

"I'll try," I amended. I was nervous about the whole thing, but Gaara was right. He had saved me from almost drowning before, I should probably learn how to swim.

"The hotel's being watched. So were going to stay here for the night," Gaara said.

"Aren't we less safe out here in the open?" I asked, pulling my jacket closer around me.

"I don't think we were followed," Gaara answered. We sat in silence, and I watched the waves roll in and out until I found it hard to remember to open my eyes back up when I blinked. The next morning I woke up not even realizing I had fallen asleep.

I sat up and wiped the sand off my face and shook my hair. Then I noticed that Gaara was standing out in the ocean with the water rolling around his ankles. I stood and walked up to where he was, stopping just short of the water.

There were several shells scattered along the beach and just to the right of where I was standing was a beautiful spiral shell that was tinted purple. I picked it up and held it up to the morning sun.

"Come on," Gaara said, and I jumped in surprise to see him standing right beside me. I pocketed the shell and followed Gaara back over to the rock. He climbed up it and reached a hand down to help me back up.

We went a different way back then we had gone there, but I trusted Gaara and knew that getting lost was something he didn't do often. We stopped under a tree near the hotel.

"Tell Temari what I told you," Gaara said.

"What about Kankurou?"

"He already knows," Gaara answered. Then there was an awkward pause as I waited for Gaara to say good bye and he waited for me to leave.

"Good bye, Gaara. Keep safe," I said and, I don't know what possessed me to do so, I stood on my tip toes and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Then I turned and ran up to the hotel and up its stairs, pausing in the doorway to look back at Gaara. He was already gone. With a heavy sigh I entered the hotel, wondering if Temari was in the room yet.


	18. In Waiting

**Chapter 17: In Waiting  
**_(In which the Princess nearly dies from boredom and in the ocean)_

I didn't have to attempt swimming lessons the first day because a big storm swept in not too long after Gaara left. The angry lightning and torrential rain held up until late in the night and we were all stuck inside of the hotel. It was both a blessing and a curse because I was able to avoid the water for that day, but I wasn't preoccupied and all I could think about was Gaara and what he thought of me.

I didn't even get to see the look on his face after I kissed him on the cheek, so I had no idea what his reaction was. I was worried that maybe when he returned from being gone for a week that he would avoid me.

That night I had trouble falling asleep, and was practically asleep on my feet as Temari ushered me down to the beach for my first swimming lesson. She was in a good mood and chattering away, but I only caught bits of it.

"Ino?" Temari said. I looked at her and realized that I had spaced off again. "Did you hear what I said?"

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't sleep that well last night," I said apologetically.

"Well, nothing like a dip in the ocean to wake you up, huh?" Temari said with a laugh. I scowled at the happy Temari. This extra week was like paradise for her. All she had to do was teach me how to swim in the mornings and then she had the rest of the day to spend with her sweetheart.

"Let's just hope I don't drown," I said.

"Don't be silly, you won't. Kankurou and I won't let you drown," Temari said, practically skipping.

"Kankurou?" I asked, confused. He wasn't even with us. Temari laughed again.

"You really must be tired, because I told you that Kankurou would be down in a little," Temari answered.

"Oh," I said and focused on where I was stepping because we were getting to the rocky part of the path. The rocks were slippery in the morning dew and made the climb treacherous.

Swimming lessons were as bad as I thought they were going to be, maybe even worse. It was hard to convince myself to enter the water and the current was strong like I had anticipated. There were terrifying minutes when a particularly strong wave would knock me off my feet and I would be thrown under the water, not knowing which way was up and which way was down.

Temari stood in the water with me, directing me on what to do. Saying things like 'move your arms like this', 'kick your legs,' and 'harder than that!' while Kankurou stood on the beach, ready to plunge into the water if anything happened and we were in danger.

The whole thing was very embarrassing and not very fun, and the best part of each lesson was when I was done for the day. Not that the walk back to the hotel was much better than the lesson, because the air was cold on my wet skin and I would shiver the whole way back.

"Gaara, where are you?" I questioned out loud, looking out my window and glad that I couldn't see the ocean. The water was horrible, it reminded me of the Akatsuki and it reminded me of how close I had been to death before Gaara saved me. But, I knew that was why I needed to learn how to swim, so I wouldn't need to be saved anymore. If I fell out of the boat, I wouldn't drown. Hopefully, that is.

The week passed slowly, a stretched out time filled with horrible swimming lessons in the morning and long, lonely nights. It felt weird to be in one place for so long, when since I'd been kidnapped, I had never stayed anywhere for any longer than a single night. I didn't know how I would be able to adjust to Naruto's castle, because it was likely that we'd stay there for a while. How would I be able to adjust to living in my own castle, cooped up once again and seeing the smallest sliver of the world from my balcony?

After a while it started to seem like Gaara would never come back and whisk us away from this hotel and take us to a castle. On a boat! I'd never been on a boat. I was a little nervous, but I was now able to swim well enough to keep afloat long enough for someone to pull me out of the water.

Then at last the week ended and Temari and I packed away our bags so we would be ready when morning came. It was the first night that Temari slept in the hotel room, she knew that we had to leave straight away when Gaara came. I pretended like I didn't notice her crying. I couldn't help but wonder how often she got to see her sweetheart.

Excitement, longing, anxiety, and uncertainty swirled around within me and gave me a headache and kept me up late. I couldn't sleep, because my mind was too active playing out all the scenarios that could happen when Gaara returned. The best being that Gaara would kiss me and tell me he's crazy about me, and the worst being that he was going to leave me here at the hotel while the others left on the boat.

When I finally did fall asleep, it seemed like I had just closed my eyes when someone was shaking me awake. I wanted to turn over and go back to sleep, but when the person said my name, my eyes shot open with no difficulty. It was Gaara!

"There's been a change of plans," Gaara said. Temari who had been tying a bag on her back froze and regarded Gaara with a confused expression. "The ship wasn't able to reach the harbor of this town. There's a war and this town's harbor being used to hold war ships and is off limits to other ships that aren't merchant ships, war ships, or any other kind of ship that is helpful to the cause of the war."

"A war?" I echoed, brushing my bangs out of my face. "It doesn't look like these people are involved in a war."

"They're not, mostly. Their King is involved in a war against another, and is just using their harbor. Some men will fight in the war, but that's it," Gaara answered. I felt a the tension inside of me release. Gaara was still talking to me and, if I wasn't imagining it, he was even talking to me more than he had before.

"What are we going to do, then?" Temari asked as she resumed tying the bag securely to her shoulders.

"We're going to take a wagon that I bought from farmer and pass ourselves off as farmer's returning from selling our produce at this town," Gaara explained while I crawled out of bed and over to where Temari was to retrieve my own pack. "The ship is located in the next town's harbor."

When Gaara left the room to allow us to change into our farmer clothes Temari turned to me and said, "He speaks a lot more when you're around."

"He does not," I said as I stepped into the homespun garment.

"How would you know how he speaks when you're not around?" Temari asked with a laugh.

"I don't see what the big fuss is. Gaara barely talks to me," I said, refusing to allow myself to get high hopes just to have them squashed.

"If that's what you want to think," Temari said, making a small clucking noise that reminded me of one of my more elderly maids, "so be it."


	19. Your Family Has a Lot of Rings

**Chapter 18: Your Family Has a Lot of Rings  
**_(In which the Princess meets up with an old friend, is called Honey-dear, and receives horrible news)_

A few fat rain drops landed on Kankurou's collar, leaving darker splotches that expanded as the water soaked in the cloth. More rain drops splashed on my face as I looked up to see that the heavy clouds are finally bringing the storm they'd been promising all morning. Lightning crashed violently through the morning air a few moments before the thunder made its way across to where we stood and shook the land.

Kankurou cursed as the rain quickened and already our clothes were pasting to our skin. I held my hands over my head in a vain attempt to block the rain that was now seeping over my hair and rushing down my face.

"We can't miss the ship," Gaara said through clenched teeth, his anger was evident in the set of his jaw, the tenseness of his body, and the fierce look in his eyes. My clothes were clinging to my body uncomfortably; irritating my skin and making it feel as if I had an itch all over my body.

"Gaara, we'll catch our death of cold!" Temari yelled at him, and I didn't miss the shocked look on Kankurou's face at Temari's boldness with her brother. Gaara looked like he'd been struck and Temari looked frightened. "We don't want Ino to get sick."

"Look, Gaara, there's a barn over there," I said, hopefully coming to Temari's rescue. I pointed at the old barn that sat forlornly across the dirt road, its worn face watching us like a wise man's, wrinkled and faded. "Can't we wait there until the storm stops?"

"Kankurou and I need to fix the wagon's axel," Gaara said with anger lacing his words, "but you go on to the barn."

At first I hesitated on hearing how angry he was, but I reminded myself that this was most likely due to the fact that it was pouring and we might possibly miss the ship. I glanced at Temari, who nodded at me, and I ultimately decided to cross the now muddy road and wait in the barn until it was time to leave or the storm quieted, whichever came first.

The barn was older than I had guessed a first and as I drew nearer I saw that it looked like it could fall at any minute. The fine cobwebs crisscrossing the windows and door gave me reason to believe that this barn had gone unused for a long time. I looked back across the road and saw that Temari was crossing at a much slower rate.

I pulled on the door and it swung open with a loud creak of protest and the welcoming cloud of dust made me cough as I walked in. Temari was closer behind me than I realized, for the door caught on her body when I figured it'd slam shut.

"Tem-" I started as I turned around. I was unable to finish the sentence as my breath caught in my throat. The person who entered so closely behind me was not Temari. I screamed but thunder drowned out most of it.

"How do you do?" He asked, a smirk playing on his lips as he allowed the door to swing close softly. I stumbled backwards, trying to put distance between us as he prowled towards me, until my back pressed against the wall opposite the door. "I see you got a new dress. It's not as nice as your other one was."

"De…Deidara…," I managed to gasp as the wood dug into my skin in my attempt to keep as far away from the blonde haired man as I could. My heart felt like it was in my throat, thumping wildly and my chest was heaving.

"Did you miss me, Honey-dear?" He asked, smiling at my obvious fear and stepping closer to me until there was barely an inch separating us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a loose piece of wood, and I slowly moved my hand towards it. If only I could reach it.

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing would come out. Deidara grinned like a pleased cat that just caught a fat mouse and he now had the pleasure of playing with it before gobbling it up.

"I brought some news," Deidara said. He stroked my cheek and I clamped my mouth shut as I felt the bile rise up in me. The metallic taste of fear in my mouth was overwhelming. He held up a ring that made my stomach clench. "News from home."

"Father," I whispered as I recognized the ring that never left my father's hand. My hand was almost there, the board within my reach. I moved agonizingly slow, trying to hide my intentions.

"He's dead," Deidara said, taking great pleasure in being the one to break the horrible news. I froze, my hand nearly on the board, the breath whooshed out of me.

"No…no…it can't be…he's not dead," I whispered wildly between the heaves of my own frantic breathing. My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to die.

"He is," Deidara said smugly, "He didn't want to pay your ransom, so instead he tried attacking us. But, he couldn't track us down so with the help of his neighbor, King Sasuke, he declared war on the Kingdom that is our main fund for resources."

"I don't believe you," I said, narrowing my eyes at him in anger even as my heart felt like it'd leave my chest it was beating so wildly and a feeling of dread felt like lead in my stomach.

"He died leading the battle," Deidara continued as if I hadn't said anything. He stuck his hand down the front of my dress and pulled out my mother's ring that still hung on my necklace and compared the two rings. "I took his ring from him after I killed him. I do like rings, and my last one was stolen."

"Neither of those rings belong to you," I covered my chest with the hand that wasn't reaching for the board, outraged that I'd been violated in such a fashion. I leaned to the side a little and my fingers brushed the wooden board just as Deidara grabbed my throat.

"Anything I want belongs to me!" Deidara said. I scratched at his hands that held me off the floor and cut off my air supply. "And the thing I want most right now is bring you back with me to the Akatsuki and to add both of these rings to my collection."

Black ringed my vision and I felt lightheaded. This was it. I was going to die, and my family would be gone. No one to live on. Our castle and lands would go to some distant cousin barely related to us. No one would remember vain Ino, poor Inoichi, and the beautiful Lady Yamanaka.

In slow motion, Deidara was wrenched back and his grip on my throat was lost. Like a dream Gaara was there coming to my rescue once again. Unlike a dream, the fight was equal with no clear winner. I grabbed the board, but it was secured to the barn wall better than I had expected. I pulled desperately on the board that didn't want to give up its grip.

When I finally wrenched the hefty board from its place on the wall, I paused a moment to catch my breath before coming up behind Deidara and crashing the wood over his head. I expected him to fall or at least stumble, but instead he swung on his heel and threw me back. I flew into the wall he'd had me pressed against a moment ago. In a painful gasp all my breath escaped and I laid crumpled on the ground.

Gaara got the upper hand, thanks to my distraction, and Deidara was forced into defensive. I wasn't sure if the fight only lasted for minutes or for hours, but at long last Gaara backed Deidara into the door and Deidara fled for it.

It was quiet in the barn save for the sounds of the storm outside. I tried to sit up, but a throbbing pain in my side made me gasp in pain and fall back to the ground. Gaara stood staring at the door, his body rigid and his hands clenched in fists. It was lucky that Deidara didn't have a weapon, because Gaara didn't have his sword attached to his side. Farmers didn't carry swords.

"Gaara-," I began, clutching my aching side. It felt like there was a fire burning in my ribs. Gaara spun around to face me, his face contorted in rage.

"If you would have just been patient and waited while we fixed the axel this wouldn't have happened!" Gaara yelled at me. My first instinct was to get angry and yell back, but I deflated as I suddenly remembered Temari.

"Is…Temari…ok?" I asked. I found it hard to talk as my breaths came in small gasps of pain.

"Kankurou is tending to her now," Gaara said, his face softening a bit as he took a few tentative steps toward me. "Are you ok?"

"I…don't…know," I answered truthfully, wincing as he crouched in front of me and pressed his fingers into my side. "Oh, that hurts…don't!"

"Your rib is broken," Gaara said, pulling his hand away. My heart beat was finally slowing down and my breathing slowed. I nodded to show him I understood. Gaara reached out and grabbed something by my boot. He held it up to get a good look at it and I saw that it was my Father's ring.

"Oh," I gasped. Gaara looked at me curiously. "That's my…father's…ring…," I offered as an explanation, working hard not to cry.

"Your family has a lot of rings," Gaara said, reminding me this wasn't the first time he'd regained a ring that was rightfully mine from Deidara.

"We…do," I choked. The sob I'd been fighting to hold back broke through. I put my fist in front of my mouth, crying harder than I remember having cried before. Gaara looked bewildered.

"Did I offend you?" Gaara asked, still holding the ring up.

"He's…dead…," I sobbed. The crying along with the inability to draw a deep breath made my words barely comprehendible. "Deidara…killed…him." I buried my face into my hands, ashamed to be so weak in front of the ever strong Gaara.

Gentle hands lifted my chin and I looked up at Gaara in surprise, surprised by his uncharacteristic tenderness. He grabbed the chain of necklace that peeked out by my shoulder and fished out the whole necklace. Gaara turned it so the clasp was in front and opened it. I watched him with shocked eyes, my sobs halted in my surprise. He strung the ring onto the necklace and then hooked the clasp again.

"So you don't lose it," Gaara said, letting the necklace fall back to my chest. I let out a strangled sound that was a strange mix of a sob and a laugh.

"Thank you," I said with a sniff. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, moving carefully so as not to disturb my aching rib more.

"Gaara," Kankurou said and we both looked up to look at him where he stood at the door. "Temari's in the cart. She still unconscious but she should be fine."

Gaara nodded and turned to look at me. I met his gaze and gave him a teary smile. "Kankurou, help me move Ino to the cart. Her rib is broken," Gaara said.

I was carried carefully between the two of them out to the cart. Sometime during all the commotion the heavy clouds had been blown away and the storm was off in the distance to the back of us.

I let my eyes wonder over Gaara, looking for any injuries he might have acquired during his fight with Deidara while Kankurou went around back looking for something suitable to use as bandages.

Gaara looked ruffled, but he didn't seem to have a single injury. Not even a scratch. As I looked him over my thoughts wandered, and I puzzled over how he could be so angry at me and then be so gentle with me within the same, small time span?

Kankurou came around from the back of the wagon holding a spare white shirt. Gaara looked down the road while Kankurou ripped it into long strips about two inches wide each. He didn't say anything until Kankurou stepped forward to start bandaging me up.

"I'll do it," He said quietly. "Go check on Temari." Kankurou hesitated, but relented and handed the strips of white fabric to him.

My breath caught in my throat when Gaara's fingers brushed my side as he wrapped the make-shift bandages tightly around the lower half of my ribcage. When he was finished it felt like I was wearing part of a corset and it was uncomfortable, but at least it would keep my rib from coming into any more damage.

"We'll have to hurry to make the ship," Gaara said with an irritated sigh, running a hand through his fiery hair.

"Temari's fine," Kankurou reported.

"Ride in the back with her," Gaara ordered with a nod. He climbed up beside me on the bench and flicked the reins. The horse set off at a brisk pace with a snort. In what seemed to be no time at all we were in the port town, the horse's hooves clattering on the street's cobbles.

I saw the dock extending far into the ocean, several ships lining it and my stomach clenched in nervousness. I had never been in a boat before.


	20. Unpleasant Confirmation & Quite a Story

**Chapter 19: Unpleasant Confirmation and Quite a Story  
**_(In which the Princess is immensely sad and wonders how her story will end) _

I twirled my Father's ring through my fingers as I watched Gaara talk with the captain of the ship. Round and round the gold band went, glinting in the sun while I waited on a great cargo box sitting on the deck.

"It's just one delay after another," A dark-haired man said, settling on the box next to me. I whipped around quickly when he spoke, startled out of my trance-like state and the sudden movement had me doubled over in pain. "Are you alright?"

"Ha-…hang on…" I gasped with the struggle of trying to find my breath again. It was several minutes before the pain started to fade away and I could sit up straight again. "Don't startle me like that. Who are you?"

"Sorry, meant no harm by it. I'm Kiba," He answered, the tattoos on his face moving slightly as he grinned. "Maybe you shouldn't be so jumpy."

"You shouldn't sneak around and scare poor, innocent maidens out of their minds!" I snapped back. His grin only spread wider and he gave me a look that seemed to suggest that I wasn't an innocent maiden, which only served to make me angrier.

"Is this poor, innocent maiden going to be polite and offer me her name like I so graciously offered her mine?" Kiba asked and I scowled at him.

"Careful your face doesn't freeze up like that," I said, indicating the infuriating grin he seemed to wear continuously. "People would think you were a nutter. My name is Ino."

"I don't care what people think," He answered as he ran a hand through his thick hair. He pointed at my bandaged middle section and added, "Seems like you've had a rough journey."

I look away from him and down at Gaara. It has been an awfully rough journey. It started from the kidnap, then there was my near death experience and Gaara's rescue. Then there was finding out that Gaara was a 'monster' and that his father wanted to kill him. As if that wasn't enough we also had to deal with Akatsuki trying to reclaim me and some other foe with unknown intentions and sources.

"I guess you can say that," I said careful to keep my answers vague because this man was still a stranger to me. But even though he was a stranger, something of him was familiar. I couldn't think of the connection.

"Sometimes life carries you through rough journeys but the end destination makes it worth it," The tattooed man said, surprising me with the profoundness of the statement. "That's what my mum always says," He added and I assume that he saw surprise in my face.

I don't know what compelled me to ask but the words were out of my mouth before I realized what they were, "What's your end destination?"

Kiba regarded me with an expression that I couldn't discern and I covered my mouth and looked away, regretting my question.

"You never know until you get there," Kiba answered finally. I looked back at him and saw him looking at me intensely. I was intimidated and wandered how much longer Gaara was going to take. "Right now, though, my end destination is King Naruto's castle. I'm recruiting him because one of the lords leading in our war died in battle recently. We need to find someone to take his place and provide us with troops like he did."

My chest tightened and it was hard to catch my breath as the realization of my father dying hit me. Up until this moment I had been denying it, because it would have been easy for Deidara to lie to me. The force of the truth finally hitting me was strong and I felt faint, like I was going to pass out. I had to get out of here and away from this guy. Quickly.

I slipped off the box, wobbling slightly as my feet hit the ground, and made my way over to where Gaara was still talking to the Captain. Since when has he been so talkative? As I draw nearer I realize they really aren't talking, rather Gaara was giving him demands and deadlines.

"We will try our best to reach Lord Naruto's by then, but we can't control the weather, ye' know," The Captain said as I stood next to Gaara. Just standing next to Gaara made me feel safer and protected from the rest of the world. When I stood next to him, nothing could harm me.

Gaara glanced over at me and then back at the captain. "We'll talk more later. It's time to depart anyway."

The Captain nodded and then rushed off, clearly relieved to be out of Gaara's glare range. Gaara turned to look at me.

"I thought I told you to wait until I was done speaking with the Captain," Gaara said, fixing his infamous glare on me.

"Sorry," I said, trying my best to maintain my composure. Gaara looked up at the cargo box where Kiba still sat, openly staring at us. Gaara reached out a protective hand and held onto my wrist firmly. The touch surprised me, since it was usually me who initiated the contact.

"What did he do to you?" Gaara asked me, holding my gaze.

"Nothing," I said. And then, because I didn't want to lie to him more than what was necessary, I added, "I just found out that Deidara wasn't lying."

And I'm not sure, but I think Gaara's eyes softened.

"This is where your bed will be," Temari said as she threw one of my bundles up on the top bunk.

"You'll have the bottom?" I asked.

"Yes, I usually have this room to myself," Temari said. "I don't mind sharing, though."

Then there was a small awkward silence where I nodded and she nodded and then we set about unpacking our essentials. According to Kankurou, under ideal conditions, we should arrive at Naruto's castle in three week's time.

"What's Naruto like?" I asked as I tucked my sheets around the mattress of the top bunk. It was more difficult than I had predicted as it was high off the ground and the sheet didn't fit quite right.

"He's loud and doesn't care one bit what people think of him. Naruto wasn't even a King until recently. Five years ago he was living as a peasant, not knowing that he was royalty," Temari said. She made a tsking noise and grabbed the sheet end from me, "Here, let me help you with that."

"That sounds like some sort of fairy tale to me," I said, watching as she successfully fit the sheet to my bunk.

"It very well could be. His father died when he was a baby and no one could find him or his mother. We still don't know what became of his mother, but Naruto was left to live on the streets with little help. It definitely made him stronger, he's a force to be reckoned with," Temari said. Finished with the beds, we moved on to carefully placing our clothing into the wooden boxes meant to serve as a bureau. "A guard from the castle recognized the birthmark on his stomach when he arrested him for stealing food."

"That's quite a story," I said, thinking about my own story. Would people say that when they heard my story? Or would I be like the mother, the poor soul that no one knows where she is or what happened to her?

Only one thing was certain: I was getting my adventure, just like I wanted. But was it worth the high cost?


	21. I'm on a Boat

**Chapter 20: I'm on a Boat  
**_(In which the Princess talks about love, sleeps a lot, discovers the use of potatoes, and realizes she forgot her flippy-floppies)_

It wasn't until after Temari finished packing her things, mumbled something about talking with Kankurou, and left the room that I allowed myself to break down and cry. I laid on my bed, my back to the door, and sobbed with the blanket clenched tightly in my fist. If someone happened to walk in I would be able to pretend I was sleeping and then I wouldn't be embarrassed.

I don't know how long I cried for, but the next thing I knew I was waking up, it was daylight, and I was disorientated. It took me a few minutes to regain my senses and remember that I was sleeping on a ship on my way to stay at Naruto's castle.

With a sickening lurch in my stomach, I remembered that my Father was, in fact, dead. Before I found myself dissolved in tears once again, I forced myself to hop off my bed and find Temari. On my way out I passed the mirror and froze. My eyes were all red and puffy from crying, and I looked like an alcoholic after a long night.

Thankfully, Temari opened the door at that moment and took in me staring at myself in the mirror. "I'll be back," Temari said, turning right back around and disappearing down the hallway and up the stairs.

I wondered where she was going and for one brief, panic-filled moment I was afraid that she was going to go get Gaara and he would see me at my worst. But she returned holding a potato and a knife.

"Put these on your eyes and they'll reduce the swelling," Temari said as she took the knife and cut two slices from the potato and handed them to me. I took them in my hand and gave Temari a questioning glance and she gestured for me to go ahead. So I climbed up on my bed and put the potato slices over my eyes, feeling more than a little bit ridiculous.

"Thank you," I said, trusting Temari not to go out of her way to embarrass me.

"You slept for three days," Temari said after a moment.

"What?" I yelped, sitting up straight quickly, knocking off the potato slices and hurting my rib at the same moment.

"Careful!" Temari said, moving me to lay down and handing me the potato slices. "It was the most agitated I've seen Gaara in a long time."

"He'd feel guilty if I died on him," I said, barely repressing a sigh as she started on the tired subject of Gaara's _undying love_ for me that I have yet to see.

"He hates to see you hurting because he's in love with you," Temari said. "He doesn't recognize the feeling of love, and it scares him. So he stays away and distant."

"Temari, he doesn't love me," I said. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, obviously deciding to let it go. I heaved a sigh of relief and winced at the sharp ache in my rib cage.

"When we get to Lord Naruto's Kingdom we'll have a doctor take a look at you," Temari said. She climbed up on the bunk beside me and checked my bandages. "You'll need your bandages changed. You know, the potato slices aren't going to help if you don't put them over your eyes."

I laughed, careful not to take too big of breaths, closed my eyes, and put the potato slices over them.

"Gaara insists on changing your bandages. He's worried that we'll hurt you further if we make a mistake," Temari said, laughing lightly. "He's such a control freak at times." I barely had a chance to worry about my appearance when Temari added, "I'll wait until the swelling in your eyes goes down."

"Temari," I said, stopping her as she was almost out the door, "I love you, you know that? You're like the sister I never had."

"I love you, too, Ino," She replied with a smile. After she left, I laid there, potato slices over my eyes, and wondered how long it would take for the swelling to recede.

Out of reflex I sat up quickly when a knock sounded at the door and winced.

"Ino?" Gaara called through the crack of the door when I didn't answer right away.

"Come in," I said, my voice wheezy from the pain. I hated the pain, I hated Deidara, and I hated the Akatsuki. I just wish that the pain would go away, that I wouldn't be doubling over in pain every other minute.

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked. He'd only been aboard the ship for three days and his skin was already a healthier color from being up on the deck and in the sun.

"I just sat up to quickly," I said, clutching my side as I tried to catch my breath.

"It'll be easier to change your bandages if you move down to Temari's bunk," He said. When I swung my feet over the side, he helped me climb down. I didn't need it, but I didn't say anything because any physical contact from Gaara was welcome.

I sat on the bottom bunk as Gaara unwrapped the bandages from my middle. It felt strange to have so much freedom in my middle and the sudden whoosh of breath in my lungs made me dizzy and made my rib hurt. I grabbed onto Gaara's arm and squeezed it tightly while I tried to regain my senses and keep from fainting.

After the dizziness went away, Gaara set about bandaging me, with new, clean bandages. When we'd been on the cart, he didn't have time to do it properly and just wrapped it over my clothes. This time he insisted on doing it correctly, and for that I had to change out of my dress and into a blouse and skirt while he waited outside the door.

"You'll have to wear a blouse and a skirt until it's healed, so I can bandage you easier," Gaara said, with my blouse hitched up to an almost inappropriate height as he wrapped the white cloth around my lower rib cage. I couldn't help but blush, it was the most skin I've shown a male in my life.

After he secured the bandages and made sure they weren't too tight, he looked up at me, his gaze intense, and asked, "What did that man say to you?"

"The man with the tattoos?"

"Yes."

I balked at answering the question. I was afraid that if Gaara knew the connections this man had to my Kingdom that he'd send me off with him. I was also afraid that he would find out that I was royalty. Even though I trusted them all with my life, I was still hesitant to tell them that I was a princess. Plus, I did not know this man and he easily could have been one of Akatsuki's thugs.

"I've never met him before, but he talked about seeing my father die in battle against Akatsuki," I said. Technically it was still the truth, but I still felt guilty because I knew I was misleading Gaara.

"He could be working for the Akatsuki," Gaara said, quietly and looking out the small, round window, the only window in our cabin.

"That's a possibility," I said.

When my stomach decided that it was time to find dinner, I finally made my above deck and looked around for either Temari, Kankurou, or Gaara. Sometimes my dependence on them really scared me and I wondered if I would be ever able to live without them when they returned me to my home.

I was relieved to find Temari, almost immediately, sitting on a box and leaning on the side of the ship. I made my quickly over there, fearing to run into Kiba again, and sat on the box beside her.

"Are you feeling better, Ino?" She asked, looking away from the ocean and at me.

"Much better, thank you," I answered, mindful of how I sat to avoid bringing myself any more pain. So far the only good thing about my encounter at the barn was Gaara wrapping my bandages, besides that it was miserable. I should have just stood out in the rain.

We sat in silence for a little bit, just looking out over the water. The ocean was beautiful from this point, but I still felt nervous sitting so close to the rail. I wondered if I would ever get over my fear of the water.

"Temari, do you miss him a lot?" I asked her. "Do you think about him all the time?"

"Who?" Temari asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I clasped my hands in my lap and licked my lips.

"Your sweetheart," I continued hesitantly. She looked away from me and returned her gaze on the waves.

"All the time," She said. I patted her hand and we sat in companionable silence.

"_I think I'm in love with Gaara" _was what I wanted to say, but afraid to admit my inter-most feelings I kept it to myself. Temari was already convinced that Gaara loved me, if I told her about my feelings to Gaara, then there'd be no stopping her. And someone would get hurt. And it would probably be me.

So I said nothing. And she said nothing. And neither of us said anything until my stomach growled loudly at me. Temari smiled at me and said, "How about we get you something to eat?"

"Sounds like a great idea," I answered, patting my protesting stomach.

I followed Temari down into the kitchen of the ship. Compared to what I knew of kitchens, and the only kitchen I had ever seen was the one in the castle back home, it was very sparse. There was a small wood stove and a counter where you could chop food. To even get to the kitchen you had to scale over boxes full of foodstuffs.

"You missed Dinner, so we'll see what we can do," Temari said, rummaging through one of the boxes that we had to climb over to enter the kitchen.

"Where's the cook?" I asked. Wondering how a person could live on a ship with such limited options for food.

"There is no cook. If you're hungry, then you make your own food," Temari said with a shrug. "We mostly live off of potatoes, they last longer than other foods and can be used in several different dishes, but at least we only suffer the lacking diet for three weeks. Imagine if you worked on the ship."

"So, potatoes for supper?" I asked.

"How would you like them cooked?" Temari asked, pulling out a large back of them.

"Surprise me," I said, with a small smile.


	22. Next Stop: Osaka!

**Chapter 21: Next Stop: Osaka!  
**_(In which the Princess is attacked by a vicious animal, eats more potatoes than she ever wanted to, and arrives at Osaka)_

During the three weeks that followed, potatoes became my best friend, worst enemy, and managed to find their way into every meal I ate. Before boarding the ship, which I found out later was named Tigris, I had not known that potatoes could be cooked in so many ways.

I've had potatoes baked, mashed, scalloped, hashed, chopped, and in soup. Temari wasn't lying when she said they could be cooked with a great deal of variety. Honestly, though, I was getting rather tired of a diet full of starchy potatoes.

I spent the voyage getting bandaged, talking with Temari up on the deck, visiting a poor, seasick Kankurou below deck, and dodging Kiba.

It was on the fourth day of the trip that I learned the name of the ship and met Kiba's companion. I was bringing down a steaming plate of potatoes and a small piece of fruit. There wasn't much fruit on the ship, mostly dried fruit, because fruit spoiled quickly. The space that fresh fruit would have taken on the ship was saved for more useful items, like cargo.

I rapped my knuckles on the door as I stood outside Kankurou's cabin holding his supper. I was still waiting for him to answer when a dog leaped at me, both massive paws landed square on my chest and shoved me against the wall. I barely managed to save the plate of food, raising it high above me in the air. His paws were digging into my chest, crushing me into the wooden wall and causing my rib to throb.

"Akamaru! Down!" Standing on the bottom stair was Kiba. He pointed a finger at the huge, white beast, and his expression was stern as he spoke. Akamaru, assuming that he was referring to the beast, wagged his tail excitedly and licked the entire right side of my face before dropping back down. I tried to conceal my look of disgust as I wiped the slobber off my face, but I must have failed, judging by Kiba's laugh.

"He's harmless," Kiba says, patting the dog on the head. I swear the dog was grinning at me, and it could have been Kiba's smirk on his face. It did not matter that I have seen little of Kiba, he had a unique smile that was annoying and characteristic of the brunette man. "Though he doesn't realize his side. He thinks he's still a tiny pup."

"Yeah. Harmless," I said, rubbing my aching rib. It seemed that every time I almost forgot about my injury, it was brought back to my attention by some incident that made it burn. Sometimes it felt as if it were going to burn right through my flesh and skin and out into the open.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot about your-," Kiba said, an apologetic expression on his face as he took a step towards me with his arm extended in my direction. I stepped back towards the wall, my back ending up pressed against the door as I tried to keep space between Kiba and myself. I was saved when Kankurou finally answered the door.

Since I was leaning against the door, I fell backwards and was saved from an embarrassing fall only by a shocked Kankurou's arms. His hands caught me under the shoulder blades, and he hesitated a moment before helping me back up to my feet.

"Ino, are you alright? What is going on here?" Kankurou asked. He removed his hands, but they still hovered near me should I fall again.

"I brought you your supper," I said, showing him the plate that was, miraculously, still filled with food. "I was attacked outside your doorway." Kankurou looked past me and seemed surprised to see Kiba standing there, his arms locked angrily at his sides and his dog sitting at his feet.

"Ah, you should keep a better reign on your dog. If you can't control him, then don't bring him below deck," Kankurou said.

"I assure you, he was attacking no one. He merely jumped on her and licked her face. He's a big baby, not some vicious beast," Kiba said. He gave me an angry glance before turning to stalk up the stairs.

Once he was gone, he turned to me and asked, "Are you alright?" I smiled and entered the room, setting the plate on his round table beside his bed.

"I'm fine," I answered. "How about you? Still throwing up?"

"Not as much," Kankurou answered. He sat down at his bed and began to eat his food. "Do you know the name of the ship?"

"This ship?" I asked, looking out the small window in the side of the ship. The water was nearly level with the window, and I thought it was strange that a ship have so many windows below deck. If one were to break, there would be a high chance that water might enter through it and flood the whole boat and, in the end, sinking it. "No, I do not."

"It's called the Tigris, named after an old river," Kankurou answered between bites. I looked away from the window and back at Kankurou. Sometimes I could see his resemblance to Gaara. At the moment the fading sun turned his brunette hair a fiery red and I could see that the shape of his eyes and the line of his jaw were very similar to Gaara's.

"Oh? More mythology?" I asked, smiling because I loved Kankurou's stories.

"No, this isn't mythology. Tigris is a river that flows through the Garden of Eden, which is from Christianity," Kankurou informed me. His eyes danced with joy at being able to share his knowledge and tell a story.

Later that night when I was getting my bandages changed, I asked Gaara about Kankurou's fondness of stories.

"My mother had a great fondness of stories. It was a custom of hers to tell them stories at bedtime, during rainy days, and in other such occasions that there was spare time. Kankurou took after our mother more than our father. Most of the stories he tells he learned from mother before she died," Gaara answered. Then there was a stony silence and I remembered that Gaara had never met his mother and it was his birth that killed her.

"Oh," I said after a long time. Nothing else was said after that, and when he finished my bandaging he left with a quick nod.

"We should be arriving at Naruto's sometime today," Temari said as we sat in our custom spot beside the railing.

"Oh, I will be glad to eat something other than potatoes," I replied. Temari laughed at this, and because her laugh was infectious, I laughed, too.

"Naruto is blonde, you know," Temari said. Her sidelong glance suggested that maybe she knew more about me than she let on, "Bright blonde, like yourself."

"Of course, we must be related then. All the blondes in the entire world belong in one family," I said, sarcastically. "Why, you must be our cousin!"

"Oh, really, Ino," Temari said, swatting me on the arm.

We were both laughing when a man's voice drifted down to where we sat yelling, "Land ahead! We've arrived! Land ahead, we've arrived!"

.o0o.

I reached out and caught Temari's hand in my grasp as we made our way up to the huge doors of Osaka Castle, Naruto's home. She seemed to understand my need for comfort and support, because she gave my hand a squeeze and walked closer to me.

Walking just ahead of us was Gaara, his back was straight and his shoulders squared as he led the way up the cobblestone path, while Kankurou trailed behind us. On our right, a uniformed solider sat astride a tall brown horse. The horse's shod feet clattered loudly on the uneven stones and seemed to drown out all other sounds.

Osaka Castle was nestled between two steep mountains, and the castle walls seemed to be apart of the rocky walls. The mountains continued up much higher than the walls extended, and formed a sort of valley as it encircled the castle in a protective embrace.

We had already passed through the gate that had been built at the only entrance into the valley. The guard had stepped out, scowling at us as he approached, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Gaara, it seemed out of habit, placed his hand on the hilt of his own sword.

"What's your business?" the guard asked through his scowl. Neither of them removed their hand from their sword hilts.

"I'm here to visit with Lord Naruto," Gaara said. "He should be expecting us."

"You won't be allowed to pass unless you can prove that you have respectable business in this Kingdom," the Guard said, his scowl turning into an infuriating grin. Gaara's hand tightened on his hilt, there was a collective intake of breath from Temari and Kankurou, but he released it after a moment.

"I'm Lord Gaara," Gaara said, pulling out a letter that was addressed to him from Lord Naruto. The Guard's eyes scanned the letter twice and he flipped the letter over to check the seal, before giving the letter back and allowing us passage.

The path that lead from the gates was a well-worn dirt path and didn't turn into a cobbled street until we were within sight of the castle and it could fit in the circle of my hands cupped together. As we walked on and the sun sank below the horizon, the castle grew and grew.

We stopped just in front of the doors. Two more Guards were standing in their posts before the doors. The doors were about twice the size of the grown men, and the castle about three times the size of the doors. It was enormous, bigger than my castle.

The Guards nodded at Gaara and opened the doors for us. The inside of the Osaka was similar in design to mine, draped in elegant clothes and trimmed with gold and silver. I was not surprised, I remember Sasuke's castle being set up similarly.

"This way, if you will," a timid maid said. "I'll lead you to your chambers."

"Thank you," Temari said with a nod. We followed the maid down twisting hallways that were so similar and familiar that I felt rather homesick. I wondered if I would ever walk down my own halls, sit on my balcony with Shikamaru, or converse with the more bold and friendly maids.

The maid stopped in front of a pair of doors and made to open them. Before her hand touched the highly-polished handle, she was attacked. For such a quiet girl she squealed loudly as a dark-haired child clung to her leg.

A nurse maid rushed down the hallway, strands of her hair coming free from the tie, and tried to remove the child from the maid's leg. It took several moments and our help, but we were successful in separating the two. The maid stepped back and faded into the background of the hallway as I kneeled beside the young boy.

The boy appeared to be around five years old and had dark black hair matched with startlingly blue eyes. He reached up his hands, asking without any words to be held. I obliged and scooped him up into his arms. I had no younger siblings, so I readily accepted any sort of occasion to hold one.

"Hello, I'm Ino," I said as he played with the end of my braid. "What's your name?"

"Hiro!" the young boy said proudly. "I'm four years old!" Ah, so I was a year off.

"Alright, Hiromasa, come now. These lovely ladies need to settle into their room, and you need to take your bath," the nurse maid said, holding her hands out to take Hiro back. Hiro leaned towards me and away from the maid.

"I don't want to take a bath!" Hiro shouted. Everything the child said or did seemed to be a exclamation. He was all bold movements and shouted words.

"You have to look your best at the dinner tonight. Lord Kankurou will be there," the nurse maid continued, trying to persuade him to go with her.

"Lord Kankurou!" Hiro exclaimed, eager to go with her now. He leaned forward so abruptly, I nearly dropped him. Luckily, the nurse maid was used to his behavior and caught him readily.

"Bye, Hiro," I called after the young boy. He turned and waved at us.

"See you at dinner, Hiro," Temari called as well. Hiro kept waving over the nurse maid's shoulder until they turned around a corner and disappeared from sight.

"Such a sweet little thing," I commented as the maid reappeared from the background and opened our doors.

"He's Lord Naruto and Lady Hinata's only son," Temari said. The layout of our chambers are nice, the main doors leading into a central living room. The living room has three doors connected to it, two leading to our separate rooms and one leading to a table room. Beyond the table room holds the chamber pot, which the maid informed us is emptied several times a day.

The maid told us that we'd be given an hour to rest and then servants would be down to help prepare them for the dinner tonight.


	23. Curse the Limitiations of Being Female

**Chapter 22: Curse the Limitations of Being Female  
**_(In which the Princess become suspicious of a maid and wishes females could ask for second dances)_

I took to the bed chambers assigned to me and settled into the bed, but for all my effort and the heaviness of my eyes, I just couldn't fall asleep. After several minutes of tossing and turning and general wishing for sleep, I gave up. Instead, I spent my hour examining my room.

It was well built and was nearly as nice as my own bed chamber, which is saying something, since these were the guest chambers and my rooms were part of the royal apartments.

In my survey of the room, I noticed that the room was provided with a rather large bookcase laden with leather spines and gold calligraphy. I ran my finger long the rows of heavy books and picked one at random.

I opened it up to a drawing of an intimidating machine that a person was chained up to. It didn't look very comfortable or safe. Wondering what sort of book I had picked up, I turned back to the cover page. It read, "Torturing Devices and How to Use them Properly and Effectively." The spine merely said, "Torturing Devices" in such loopy engraving that it was near impossible to make out.

Not something particularly pleasant to read about, so I put it away and resumed looking around the chambers. I ran my fingers along the wall, wondering at the possibility of secret passageways. There were some in my castle, I knew of it, but they only lead to other places in the castle, and one travel down them was enough to sate my curiosity.

Here it would be a good precaution to find such passageways and to become acquainted with them, should something happen and I need to make a quick escape. Even after all the time I'd spent with Gaara and his company, I still felt wary and ready to bolt at the first inclination of 'kidnapping' or 'ransom'.

When the maid knocked on the door, to gather me and bring me to the dressing area, I was nearby and answered while she was on her second knock. She looked startled at first, but covered it quickly with a polite expression that didn't quite mask the curiosity in her eyes.

"Lady Ino, I'm here to escort you to the dressing area," the maid said, averting her eyes and bowing respectfully. I felt an odd feeling of overlapping amusement and homesickness at once again being treated as a Princess. It was so familiar, but I felt so changed, like I was a different person than Princess Ino.

"Thank you," I said with a quick curtsey and followed the maid as she lead the way to the dressing area. Inside, there were other maids milling around Temari who was already in the beginning stages of being dressed.

Once I was stepped all the way in the room, I was surrounded by the remaining maids, and before I knew it was out of my dirty traveling clothes and well on my way to being dressed fit for a ball, or at least a welcoming feast.

.o0o.

A pretty maid with mousy brown hair and a kind face was finishing my curls when the maid who showed us in appeared at the door. When the other maids noticed her standing in the doorway, the quit their action and turned their full attention on her.

When we had first seen her, she'd been timid and reserved, but now she had a more confident air and business in her stance, and I understood that her earlier meekness had been a ruse.

She noticed me looking at her and her countenance changed abruptly to that of someone terribly shy. I was so focused on keeping my face straight and unchanged that I nearly missed what she said next, barely above a whisper, "Lady Hinata wishes to eat out in the garden. She loves evenings such as these and loathes to waste them by eating inside."

It was complete stillness in the room until Temari acknowledged what the maid had said and asked her to tell Lord Naruto and Lady Hinata that they would be down shortly. The maid curtsied and then departed.

I noticed that the maids didn't move or say anything the whole while the 'shy' maid was here and visibly relaxed when she left. This made me very curious and I resolved to ask about it after the welcoming feast.

Shortly, as Temari had said, we left our apartment and followed the mousy-haired maid, who, I discovered, was named Megumi, down through the halls and into the garden. I dearly wanted to ask her about the other maid, but didn't want to question her in front of Temari. When we stepped into the lovely garden, it was much easier to push the thought to the back of my head, and I knew I would have plenty of time to dwell on it later.

I think that, left uninterrupted, the first person I would have seen – or at least looked for – would have been Gaara, but as we walked toward the wooden table, Hiro shouted out my name and waved his thin arms in the air.

"I assume you've met Hiro already," a man with golden blonde hair and matching scars on either side of his face. This had to be Hiro's father, for he had the same gorgeous blue eyes.

"I have," I said, giving him a quick curtsey. I couldn't help but add, "You must be his Father for you two are extremely alike in appearance. Especially in the eyes."

"It seems everyone says that," Naruto said, ruffling his son's hair with a proud gleam in his eyes.

"They say it because it's true," Temari said, pulling on my arm and leading me around the table to where I would sit. The table was made of a heavy, light-colored wood and was round in shape, as if someone had just cut it from the trunk of a great tree and decided that it would make a wonderful table as it was. It was unique and creative in design, but it provided a very different atmosphere at the table than I was used to. Normally, the King and Queen would sit at the high end of the table, and the importance of rank would decrease the further you sat from the two.

At the round table it was near impossible to determine ranks of individuals, making it exceedingly difficult to decide how to address anyone except the ones I already knew. I had already discerned Lord Naruto due to his son, and I assumed that the dark haired woman seated beside him was his wife Lady Hinata.

Lady Hinata's face gave the impression that under normal situations she was rather petite, but at present her stomach protruded quite a bit. There could be no other explanation for this than that she was pregnant and ready to give birth soon.

On the other side of Lady Hinata, I realized with a sinking feeling in my gut, sat Kiba. I noticed that Lady Hinata didn't talk all that much to anyone besides Lord Naruto and Kiba, and I wondered if she was haughty or merely shy. I also wondered at Kiba's connections to the Queen.

The man who sat beside Kiba had long brown hair and the same pale eyes that Lady Hinata had, leading me to the conclusion that they were close family. From listening to conversation, I learned that his name was Neji.

Sitting between Neji and Temari was another person I decided was in Lady Hinata's family, for she looked nearly identical to the woman, but younger. The young lady never opened her mouth, for what I could see, except to eat. I never caught her name.

I was seated across from Lord Naruto and Lady Hinata, which made me wonder if I was at the bottom of the rank important-wise, and placed in between Temari and a woman who introduced herself to me as Tenten. Kankurou sat on the other side of her, and beside Lord Naruto sat Gaara.

I tried to maintain a conversation with Lord Naruto, but Kiba, whom I could not look at without thinking of my Father and remembering that he was here trying to _replace_ him, kept cutting in and I eventually gave up. Instead I talked mostly with Temari and Tenten until we ate through all the courses and the sun had sunken well below the horizon.

Sometime during the dinner, I'm not sure when, a band had assembled in the courtyard beside the garden and had began to play. Once the feast had ended, people began migrating towards the courtyard, and I noticed that there was a steady stream of courtiers exiting the castle.

It was a relief to realize that I'd been included at the King's private supper while the rest had dined inside. It gave me rank similar as if I'd visited as Princess Ino, instead of Gaara's company. Gaara seemed to be important and respected where ever he went.

Kankurou found me in the crowd and smilingly asked me for the first dance. I obliged and found that dancing with Kankurou was incredibly fun, as he would comment on couples who passed by and tell me funny jokes. He was my partner for two straight dances, until Lord Naruto cut in. I also danced once with Neji, once with someone I didn't recognize, and one more with Kankurou.

I was escaping Kiba, he'd caught my eye and walked in my direction, causing me to fear that he would ask for a dance, when I bumped into Gaara. He had a tight expression on his face as he asked me for the next dance. To say I was surprised is an understatement.

"Did you have a nice rest?" I asked, attempting to interrupt the awkward silence that had settled between us. It was strange that he and Kankurou differed so much in personality, that when Kankurou was cheerful and talkative, Gaara was grave and reserved.

"I had a meeting with Lord Naruto," Gaara said, tipping me back into a dip.

I waited for him to say anything more or ask me how my rest went, but he remained silent, so I said, "Oh."

The problem with the silence was that it gave me nothing to direct my attention to accept for Gaara's hand on my lower back and the closeness of our bodies. For all our interactions we had never stood so close intentionally for so long. I had to resist resting my cheek on his broad chest.

I didn't want the song to never end, and if life went my way it would have lasted for the rest of the night, but it didn't. I wanted to ask him for another dance, but it wasn't proper for girls to request a dance, and before I knew it Gaara was gone.


	24. Every Saint Has a Past

**Chapter 23: Every Saint Has a Past, Every Sinner Has a Future  
**_(In which the Princess learns more about Gaara and continues to try to understand him better)_

I woke up the next morning, bleary and fatigued, to persistent knocking. Wondering who was disturbing my rest, I left my warm cocoon of blankets to answer the door. Megumi stood in my doorway, smiling way too brightly for the early hour.

"Lady Hinata and Lord Naruto request your presence for an early morning ride, Lady Ino," She said after a quick and graceful curtsey. My whole body begged me to reject and return to bed to capture some much needed sleep, but I nodded and forced myself to follow after the maid.

"Who all is going on this ride?" I asked as she led me to the changing area.

"Well, Lord Naruto, Lady Temari, Lord Kankurou, Lord Gaara," the maid said, and my heart lifted at the prospect of seeing Gaara again. I had been worried that I wouldn't be seeing him as often once we got to the castle. But my heart sank when she finished listing off the names, "Lady Tenten, Lady Hanabi, Lord Neji, and Lord Kiba."

"Hm," I hummed in response. After a brief silence I remembered the 'mousy' maid from the night before and added, "Megumi – who was that maid that announced the dinner last night?"

Megumi gave me a searching look before answering, "I believe you're talking about Haya. Why?"

"When she showed us our rooms yesterday, she seemed very timid, but before she noticed I was watching, she was very bold to you and the other maids. She returned to her timid countenance when she noticed I was looking at her," I said, staring down at my feet as we walked and trying to seem offhand as I pried for information.

"Haya is shy around the nobility because she recognizes her status. Among us, she is superior. She is the highest maid, we report to her," Megumi explained. I nodded, accepting that answer for now. But, I couldn't quit dispel the feeling that there was something not right about the maid.

When I arrived to the changing areas, I saw that either Temari had already changed and gone, or I had beaten her today.

It turned out that I had beaten her, because I was halfway changed into a lovely brown riding dress when Temari stumbled in. I grinned and waved at her, and she, looking very tousled like she'd been drug out of bed by her feet, returned it with a yawn.

As we headed down to the stables, I realized I was excited. When I was younger and my father didn't forbid me to leave the castle, I used to ride with my mother and sometimes Sasuke. I hadn't ridden since then, unless you consider lying bound on your stomach across a horse's back ridding.

"I wish Lord Naruto wasn't such a fan of riding," Temari said, crossing her arms to ward off the morning chill that raised goose bumps along her exposed skin. "I'm not a very good rider, and I usually end up embarrassing myself."

"It can't be any more embarrassing than supervised swimming lessons in the ocean when you're terrified of drowning," I replied. I maintained a serious expression until I saw Temari look sideways at me in my peripheral vision, and we both were reduced to laughter.

For some reason, and I can't think of any besides maybe that we were overtired or drugged, we couldn't stop laughing. Anytime that we were close to calming down, one of us would snort or something, and we'd both be caught up again. The maid who accompanied us to the stables kept giving us concerned glances.

Seeing the stables with our riding companions gathered around it was enough to sober us for the most part, though there were still traces of our earlier merriment in our pink cheeks and broad grins.

"Lord Naruto, good morning," I greeted as he broke away from the group to talk with us. It'd become a habit of mine to look for Gaara to reassure myself that he hadn't left without saying goodbye. I stifled a sigh of relief when I spotted the redhead standing over by the tree, disconnected from the rest of the group. As if he could feel my eyes on him, he turned to look at me.

I smiled slightly at Gaara, who nodded and turned away. I was so pleased by his response to me, oftentimes he just disregarded me (well, everyone, that is…), that I missed what Temari and Naruto were talking about. I only caught the end of Naruto's words, "…set off once everyone has their mount of choice."

This seemed to be a sort of cue for everyone to enter the stables and to select a horse to ride. I picked up my pace to meet Gaara as he passed under the doorway.

"I'm nervous. It's been ages since I've gone for a ride." I paused to give Gaara time to answer, but he merely looked at me to show he was paying attention. "How about you? Do you ride well?"

No matter how much I talked to Gaara, he always seemed taken aback that I would give him an attention at all. "Horseback riding is an important part of military training. I learned that before I learned to fight with a sword."

I imagined this meant that he was extraordinary at it – like everything else he did. I was beginning to think it was a good thing that he was so socially awkward, otherwise he would have been too good to be true. "Oh," I said, my gaze lingering on him for a few moments before I turned to look at the horses. "There's so many, I don't know which one to choose."

Naruto laughed as he appeared at my side. "That depends on how well of a rider you are," He answered.

"I used to go riding all the time when I was younger, but that was such a very long time ago. I'm actually kind of nervous," I said, stroking the snout of a beautiful bay that had nudged me.

"Leiko there sounds like a good choice," Naruto said, patting the horse on the neck. "He can be pretty feisty, but he really has a heart of gold. He'd never hurt a fly."

"That sounds like you, Ino," Temari interjected from over by a small Palomino. She looked anxious as she stood next to the door. "Nene is calm, right?"

"About the calmest we have," Naruto said, leaving my side to go over and help an extremely worried Temari out. I looked around and saw that everyone pretty much had their mount picked out, and servants were entering the stalls to prepare the chosen horses for the ride. I indicated to a servant that I had chosen, and stepped back to let him enter the stall.

While I was waiting for the servant to finish preparing my mount for the early morning ride, Kiba sidled up beside me. "You're supposed to wear rings on your fingers, not your neck," He commented with a gesture at my necklace. I covered my chest self-consciously and fixed a glare in his direction.

"I like to keep them where I know they're safe," I answered reluctantly, hoping that the servant would hurry. I didn't like to talk to or even notice Kiba, because of what he served to remind me of. The quicker I was out of his range, the more settled I would be.

Once my horse was bridled and saddled, I mounted and led him over to where Gaara was waiting for the rest of the group. Gaara's mount was a jet black horse with white stockings and a white blaze, and Gaara looked easy, as if he had been born in a saddle. Figures.

"Why don't you travel with horses?" I asked, curiously. Whenever my father had left the castle for anything remotely close to a journey, he would bring a horse. And courtiers were always arriving and departing on horseback, simply because they were an effective and quick way to travel. Even the Akatsuki had horses. So, the absence of horses had always been something I'd wondered about.

"They're more of a hindrance than anything," Gaara answered, looking past me and down the grassy hill. I was tempted to shift my horse over so that he'd be looking at me, but I repressed the urge. Gaara was different from all the men I knew. The men I knew would focus entirely on me, doting and complimenting. But, unlike Gaara, they were all suitors. For a second I imagined what Gaara would be like as a suitor. I wonder if I would have picked him if I hadn't been on a journey with him and he was just one in the sea of boring, personality-lacking faces. "Temari is uneasy with horses."

As if on cue, Temari emerged from the stables. She clutched nervously at the reins and sat rigid while a servant led her horse out to us. I leaned over and patted her reassuringly on the leg, "You'll be fine, Temari. Try to relax some, or you'll worry the horse."

Temari looked at me with raised eyebrows. "And, what did you say during your swim lessons when I told _you_ to relax?"

My face turned pink at the mention of the embarrassing lessons. "I don't recall."

"I believe it was along the lines of 'how am I supposed to relax when I could die any minute!'" Temari said, pulling a mock thoughtful face.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about. I was the very picture of relaxation," I said. I held my head high and adopted a smug, disdainful expression, until Temari snorted and sent us both over into laughter.

"Oh, we're going!" All the merriment was gone from Temari's face, replaced by a terrified expression. I looked up and saw that while we were talking, everyone had ventured out from the stable and Gaara was now further up by Naruto. They were talking animatedly. Or, rather, Lord Naruto was talking animatedly and Gaara was listening intently and interjecting occasionally.

"Lord Naruto's a good man," I said to Temari.

"Yeah, he saved Gaara life. If it wasn't for him, the Akatsuki would have beaten him for sure. That Deidara nearly killed him," Temari said almost absentmindedly.

"Deidara?" Just the mention of his name caused my rib to ache and my stomach muscles to clench in dread.

"A while back, the Akatsuki was hired by a wealthy King to take out some of the stronger men under his rivals. Gaara was one of them," Temari said.

I smiled. "Gaara was probably at the top of their list."

"He was," Temari said, her face completely serious. My smile faded. "Many people were desperate to get rid of him. He was strong, but unpredictable and out of their control. So they feared him, and with good reason. If you think Gaara's cold now then you should have seen him before he met Lord Naruto. It was terrifying to just be in his presence."

While Temari spoke I watched Gaara riding confidently at the head of the group. Hearing about his near death experience was painful and sobering at the same time. If strong people like Gaara could be nearly killed, what chance was there for weak people like myself?

"The Akatsuki attacked the whole city, too impatient for him to leave the Kingdom. I would say that they were too cocky, except that they were successful in luring him away. He fought with Deidara and nearly died. If Lord Naruto hadn't intervened, then Gaara wouldn't be here today," Temari said. "Lord Naruto is about one of the only people who can understand Gaara's emotions and pain. His childhood was rough, like Gaara's. Lord Naruto was also on Akatsuki's list."

"That's when they met, then?" I asked.

"Oh, no," Temari said with a small laugh. "Lord Naruto beat Gaara within an inch of his life before that."

"What?" It was hard to imagine the cheerful blonde beating anyone. And, there was clearly no animosity between the two. I would even say that Lord Naruto seemed to be Gaara's only friend. Though, I liked to consider myself one of his friends.

"Lord Naruto was fed up with Gaara terrorizing his people when he passed through. Gaara used to let his anger control him and would sometimes take it out on surrounding people," Temari said. I still couldn't believe it.

"I thought Lord Naruto only recently acquired the throne?" I asked.

"When you're as lively as Lord Naruto, you find that a lot can be done in a few years," Temari said in a sagely tone. We both laughed until a sudden gust of wind almost knocked us from our mounts. I clutched tightly to Leiko's mane, and closed my eyes against the fury of the wind and whip-like hair.

When the wind slowed, I tentatively sat up. "What was that?"

"Sometimes strong wind blows up from the South," Temari said and, not for the first time, I wondered how she was so knowledgeable. It wasn't just her, but Kankurou and Gaara as well. The only other person I had ever known to be as smart as them was Shikamaru. "Hey, Ino, what's the matter?"

I blinked hard at the tears that pressed unwanted against the corners of my eyes. I felt incredibly homesick. "You remind me of someone I know, that's all."

"Someone from back home?" Temari asked.

"Yeah," I answered, knowing that she would start pressing me about my home again.

I wasn't wrong. "You know, those rings your wear around your neck look pretty expensive," Temari said, pointing at the necklace hanging over my collar. I gripped the two rings in my hand. That was the second time my rings had been mentioned today. "You must come from a wealthy family."

I didn't want to lie to Temari, she was quickly becoming my dearest friend. I looked ahead. "I guess so."

Temari opened her mouth to say something, but another strong gust of wind cut her off. At the front of the line, Lord Naruto and Gaara stopped, and the rest of us followed suit. Lord Naruto cupped a hand to his forehead and gazed in the direction of the wind. "We should head back," He called to us. "It looks like a storm is coming."

Sure enough, heavy storm clouds hung over the mountains, spurred on by the powerful wind. The horses began to grow antsy at the oncoming tempest, particularly Leiko. He snorted and marched in place.

"Whoa, boy," I said, noticing that his agitation seemed to be affecting Nene as well. Temari wasn't helping matters, sitting like a stone in her saddle. "Calm down, Leiko."

At the first crack of lightning, both horses jumped, but luckily stayed in place. I could see the white's of Nene's eyes.

"Temari," Gaara said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, "hand me your reins." Temari's expression was a mixture of relief and gratitude as she passed over the reins. The horses' pace picked up as the storm grew and thundered in our years. Leiko was quivering all over, and I'm sure I was in the same state.

When the stable came into view, the rain came in buckets, soaking everyone to the bone. I shifted uncomfortably in the saddle as Leiko moved at a rough pace somewhere between a cantor and a gallop.

Once we were inside the stable, Lord Naruto apologized for bringing us out in such weather and causing us all to get soaked. It was nonsense, of course. How was Naruto supposed to know a storm was coming?

I wrung out my dress hem and moved to stand between Temari and Lady Tenten. We watched the men debate over whether or not we should run for the castle or wait it out. They seemed about to come to a decision – running up to the castle so we could change into warm clothes – when a servant, out of breath and dripping, appeared at the stable door.

"Lady Hinata is going into labor!" the servant interrupted, throwing out all protocol. Everyone was quiet for a long moment, and then there was a burst of action. It was a mass of confusion, so many people running to the door. At the lead was a dark skinned, blonde man.


	25. How to Comfort for Dummies

**Chapter 24: How to Comfort for Dummies  
**_(In which the Princess has a few intimate moments with a certain someone, asks a bold question and is shot down, and is given good advice)_

The tension in the room was so tangible that I felt like I could reach up and swish it around. Lord Naruto was so agitated that he could not stay still, and was taking long strides up and down the room we were all seated in. I was sitting between Temari and Tenten and it seemed like we had been there forever.

Gaara sat across from us, a candle flickering beside him and illuminating half his face and making his face look like it was made out of stone. I could swear that he hadn't moved in the last three hours.

The door opened and Naruto was on the person before they could even step into the room.

"Is she-?"

The servant drew back in surprise, paused to recollect his thoughts, and then shook his head no. "No, milord, I'm just here to ask if you require food or blankets?"

Naruto rubbed his eyes and said, "What I _need_ is news on my wife and child."

I was so thirsty that my tongue kept sticking to the top of my mouth, but I held my silence and let Lord Naruto shoo the man out and say that no one was to enter the room unless they had news on Lady Hinata.

I remembered earlier, the room had been lit by sunlight instead of candle light, Temari had told me that Lord Naruto's last child had died during child birth and had almost taken Lady Hinata with him. The chance that his wife could die was nearly driving Naruto crazy.

My eyes found the blonde man again, moving up and down the room again. His almost rhythmic pacing made me sleepy. Or it could just be the late hour that was making me sleepy. Or the early morning horse ride. Or that I didn't get much sleep the previous night either. Or maybe all of those combined. Who knows, right?

I thought about getting up and comforting the man, but I didn't know him very well and I knew the last thing I would want is for some stranger to try and sooth me. I spent several minutes internally fighting over whether or not to go and help him, when the next thing I knew Gaara was telling me to calm down.

I was face down on the castle carpet, with my arms pinned behind my back. Breathing heavy and sweating, I tried to figure out what was going on.

"Gaara, let go. You're hurting me," I said, trying to wiggle out of his grip. He let go and I sat up. Rubbing my wrists, I gave him a questioning look.

"You fell asleep in the room and Lord Naruto told me to bring you to your room. Then, you began to thrash around and scream," Gaara said. I noticed that his lip was bleeding.

"Ah, I'm sorry," I said, feeling embarrassed, but at the same time wishing he hadn't been so rough.

"Did…did you have a nightmare?" Gaara asked, swiping that back of his sleeve against his bleeding lip.

"I don't remember," I answered. Then, ripping off a strip from my underskirt – deciding that since it was out of sight, it wouldn't be missed too terribly - reaching towards him I said, "Let me get that…"

Gaara jumped back from my outstretched hand and bumped into the wall. I hid my smile with my unused hand while I tried again, "Oh, come on."

This time he didn't move away, though he just might not have been able to escape because of the wall, and I wiped the blood off and then instructed him to hold the cloth scrap there. I'm sure he could have taken care of it himself, but he was always looking after me – saving me from drowning and from Deidara – that I felt I needed to return the favor in any way that I could.

There was a heavy silence. I sat back and tried to arrange my tangled hair so it would lay right. I wasn't very successful and gave up with a sigh. Gaara and I were still sitting on the floor. I felt the need to say something, so I asked him, "Why did you pin me down?"

"Because you were flailing around and hit me in the face," Gaara said, his voice slightly muffled by the cloth held to his lip.

"Sorry about hitting you," I said. And, stopping another awkward silence before it could happen, I asked, "If you thought I was having a nightmare, why didn't you just soothe me?"

"Soothe you?" Gaara repeated. I nodded.

"Yes," I said. "If someone is having a nightmare, going through an emotional ordeal, or anything else along those lines, you comfort them. Or 'soothe them'. Like, for example, when I was having that nightmare, or when Lord Naruto was upset earlier. Do you want me to teach you?"

"Ah, that's not really my area. That is what Temari would do…," Gaara said, looking nervous. I smiled at this foreign expression on his face. I wonder how many times he saw it on my face. Then I nearly laughed when I thought about how my face would have looked when Deidara had cornered me in the barn. Probably extremely nervous.

Poor Gaara probably thought I was laughing at his expense. "Nonsense," I said, "everyone needs to learn how to comfort. It's a useful skill and can actually be used diplomatically. I'm sure you would use it often when you become King. Plus, you will need to know how to comfort your wife someday."

"Kankurou is the Crown Prince," Gaara said. I noticed that he completely ignored the wife part.

"Well, you can still use it," I said, already deciding that I would teach him, whether he consented or not. I had to repay him some how, and what else could I do besides teach him what I'm an _expert_ at, but he lacks?

"Hm," He said and I could see the resignation in his face and body. He probably realized that once I got something in my mind, I wasn't going to let it go. Everybody had to learn that someday, and the sooner a person learned it, the better it was for them.

I clapped my hands together with a triumphant smile and said, "Let the comforting lessons commence! The first step is to give the hurting person some advice or to say something soothing."

Gaara merely nodded. After a moment of nothing, I sighed, exasperated, and said, "When you learned to sword fight, did your instructor tell you what to do and you learned it perfect without ever lifting your sword in practice?"

"No," Gaara said.

"Well, that's the same for other things. So, come, scoot closer and practice what I tell you. I want you to take this as seriously as sword practice. You never know when it will be useful," I said.

Gaara balked at this, but, with a determined expression, humored me and scooted closer. Completely serious he put down the bloody scrap of cloth and said, "Ino, before you fall asleep next time, you should clear your mind of all foul thoughts."

"Good!" I praised. "The next step is patting the person's hand or back – you should pat their hand only if they are very close male friend or a familiar female – and asking them if there is anything you can do to help them."

He mechanically patted my hand and I struggled not to laugh. "No, like this," I said, patting his hand as an example. He tried again and he was right. "Don't forget to ask."

"Uh, is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"Then the final step varies on how well you know the person and their age. If the person in need of comforting is a stranger and an adult, then you would end the conversation naturally after the last step. But, if they want to talk about their problem, you should listen to them. If the person you are comforting is a child or a friend, then you should hug them at this point." I instructed. Gaara nodded and I stopped him before he could choose which action to take. I was secretly worried that he would pick the first option. Did he consider me a friend? "Ok, let's try it all together."

"Ino, clear your mind next time before you sleep. I…I noticed that you, uhm, tend to have nightmares," Gaara said.

"Thank you, Gaara. You are right, ever since Deidara kidnapped me, I've been having nightmares. The ones that I remember usually revolve around him killing me or my father somehow. Though, I guess he already killed my father…," I said. At the start of my response, I felt giddy that Gaara had thrown in that more personal statement. But, towards the end my spirits dropped at the remembrance of my father's death.

Gaara patted my hand the way I showed him, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Thank you for your generous offer. I think just thinking of me and cheering me up close to when I head to sleep would help a lot," I said.

"I will," He said. I wondered if he really meant it, or if he was just saying what he thought he should. Then he paused and I paused. The next part was a defining part in our relationship. Did Gaara consider me his friend, or someone he 'knew'.

He leaned halfway and then hesitated. I smiled and said, "Here." I grabbed his arms and showed him where to place them. Good Lord, was this his first time hugging someone? There was so much space between us, that it was less a hug and more him placing his hands on my sides. Laughing I grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him closer. The lost look on his face was adorable and priceless at the same time.

When we were in a proper hug, I felt a warm and tingling sensation in my stomach. I never imagined that Gaara would hug me. And, I now knew he considered me a friend. Then, to make his lesson more complete – at least that's what I told myself – I said, "In the event that the person starts to cry, you rub his or her back."

"Like this?" He asked, moving his hand sideways and against the flow of velvet on my dress.

"I find it works better if you move in a circular motion, like this. And, try to go in the direction of the material," I said. Gaara changed his hand motions as I instructed and I showed him that he could also go up and down and the area he was allowed to rub.

With my back tingling pleasantly, I looked up to see Gaara's expression, wondering if he was uncomfortable or not. He looked down at the same moment, and our faces were only a whisper apart.

_Kiss him. Just lean in and kiss him. He's right there, within reach, with his beautiful eyes and pale lips. Just do it. You'll regret it if you don't, _my brain urged. But, I didn't move. How many times had I seen two people kiss? I had seen my parents kiss, royal couples on visit, Sasuke's Aunt and Uncle. I'd even seen some unsuspecting servants kiss when they thought no one noticed. So why couldn't I move that small distance and kiss him?

The answer was that I was terribly frightened and horribly inexperienced. I had never kissed anyone. Who was there for me to kiss? Sasuke? Shikamaru? It was hard to envision kissing them. My suitors? That would have been extremely inappropriate.

I hesitated for too long; When I had finally gathered my courage to lean in and kiss him, the moment was lost. A servant entered the hall we were sitting in, and the slamming door made Gaara leap back guiltily. When the servant made it around the corner and within sight of us, Gaara was standing on the opposite side of the hall.

"Are you alright, milady? Do you need help up?" the servant said, noticing me still on the floor feeling extremely disappointed.

"Yes, please," I said, offering my hand to him. The man, who I guessed was close to my father's age, pulled me to my feet, then continued on his way.

Gaara was already almost gone from the hallway, taking the opportunity of my distraction to escape. I chased after him and stopped him just before he left through the door.

"Gaara," I said, grabbing his silken sleeve, "I know you have done a lot for me already, and I owe you so much more than just teaching you how to comfort a person. But would you-"

"Ino, you don't owe me anything. I do my duty, and that's it. You don't need to repay a person's kindness," Gaara cut across.

"I still want to pay you back," I continued. "And, one way I would like to do that is to be able to defend myself so you don't have to."

"What are you asking?" His expression was stern and I felt intimidated.

"Would you train me, so I can keep myself safe? So I can be one less thing you have to watch over?" I asked.

"No." He said, "Absolutely not."

"Why not?" I demanded, angry that he shot me down without even considering it or giving me a chance.

"Because women are not to fight," Gaara said.

"What about Temari?" I demanded, but he was already gone, stalking down the next hallway and disappearing from sight.

.o0o.

I sighed and sank lower until the rose-scented water touched my chin. I had been trying to corner Gaara for three days since the night I asked him to train me, to persuade him into changing his mind on the matter. But, he seemed to be avoiding me, and I only saw glimpses of him from very far away.

Megumi ran her fingers through my hair, tugging gently on any knots. "Is something wrong, Lady Ino?"

"I think Lord Gaara is avoiding me," I said, scowling deeply at the water. I prided myself on being a confident person, but I couldn't decide if he was avoiding me because of our personal encounter or because of my request.

"Why would Lord Gaara do that?" Megumi asked. She scooped up some water and poured it over my head.

"I'm not sure, but I think it was because of a request I made," I answered, swishing my hands lazily and enjoying the feeling of the water streaming over my skin.

"If you don't mind my asking, Lady Ino, what request did you make?" Megumi asked. I glanced around. Some maids were busy washing laundry, others were preparing my next dress. Haya was staring intently at Megumi and me, but they were all out of earshot.

"I asked him to train me," I answered at last. I felt silly for being so hesitant about admitting something I wanted so badly.

Megumi's hands paused momentarily and she said, "Ah," before dumping a bucket of water over my head.

"So, you think women shouldn't fight, too? Why is it that Temari is allowed to fight and I am not? No one stops her when she heads down to the training grounds with Kankurou and the other men, leaving me behind in the castle. Why am I stopped?" I demanded, frustrated that no one would support me.

"It is true that many men believe that women should never step on the battle field unless they are gathering dead or dragged across it, but that isn't why I was surprised. You misjudge my shock for disapproval. It is merely hard for me to envision you fighting. You seem so dainty, almost like you're made of glass," Megumi said. "Temari, on the other hand, seems hardier."

"But, I do not have your support, too?" I asked, unable to mask my disappointment.

"Lady Ino, what is the significance of one servant's support? What you need to do is show Gaara how serious you are about learning to fight and that you can handle it." She said.

"Megumi?"

"I believe Lord Kankurou is heading down to the training grounds soon." She dumped a final bucket over my head and then began to wring out my locks.

"You are brilliant," I said with a fierce smile.


	26. An Atlanta Rather Than an Andromeda

**Chapter 25: An Atlanta Rather than An Andromeda  
**_(In which the Princess tells two stories and makes Gaara angry)_

"Please, Kankurou!" I begged, hovering around him as he headed down towards the training grounds.

"If Gaara will not teach you, what makes you think I would?" Kankurou said. He waved his arm as if I was a pesky fly buzzing about his head.

"You would teach me because you care for my wellbeing and understand how important it will be for me to be able to care for myself. You and Gaara cannot always be around to save me," I said.

Kankurou paused, but shook his head and said, "Lady Hinata needs you. After the false alarm, she's uneasy. You should stay here, where you're needed and supposed to be. A training field is no place for a woman."

"I have no experience with child birth! I would be more of a hindrance than anything," I said. Then, I scowled and added, bitterly, "You let Temari fight."

"I don't _let_ Temari do anything. You try and tell her not to come down," Kankurou said with a chuckle. We reached the final door that lead to the outside.

"Why did Gaara train her when he refuses to train me?" I asked. I placed a hand on the door and stopped him from leaving. "Does he think that little of me?"

"Ino, Gaara didn't train Temari. She was trained by one of the soldiers back when we were younger. Our father would never have allowed it, but she learned in secret. Even now she won't tell us which one trained her, because she wants to protect whichever softie gave in and taught her," Kankurou said. "Just let it go, Ino."

He pushed my hand off the door and left. Angry, I slammed it behind him and stalked back down the hallway. If even Kankurou wouldn't train me, then who would? I didn't know any of the soldiers here, so I couldn't just ask one of them.

I was looking for Temari to ask her when I came across Hiro. He was playing with a wooden horse figurine, pretending to feed pine cones to it. I smiled and called to him.

He looked up and shouted, "Lady Ino!" The force of his little body tackling me into a hug nearly knocked me over. He pulled back and studied my face. "Are you mad at Kankurou?"

"Why would I be mad at him?" I asked, smoothing his hair down and wondering how he could have known.

"Because I'm mad at him, too! He never has time to tell stories anymore!" Hiro said, his bottom lip jutting out in his disappointment. I smiled and hugged him close to me. Ah, how adorable he was! I couldn't help but hope that I would soon have my own son! How was it that Lady Hinata was lucky enough to have one already! Is this what I was missing by putting off choosing a husband?

"I'm sorry, Hiro," I said after I released him. "I would be willing to tell you a story."

"Hooray! Tell one! Tell one!" Hiro said, excitedly.

"Alright. This story is about a young man named…Niro. Yeah, Niro was his name. He lived in a mighty castle, and his father was a mighty man. In fact, his father was such a mighty man, that Niro felt that no one noticed him. Especially his father. Often, his father would be too busy training and meeting ambassadors, that he didn't have much time to tell stories to his son or anything of that sort.

"Niro lived with this for many long years – until he reached the age where he could be considered a man. Once he reached this age, he decided that he would make his father notice him. Courageously, he mounted his pine-cone-eating steed and set off to make a name for himself. He was hardly out of the kingdom gates when he came across an old lady, her back bent with age.

"The woman was struggling with a heavy sack of potatoes and the young prince, with his pure heart, stopped to offer to help. The woman looked at him and saw that he was wearing shining, un-dented armor and said, 'Young man, I think someone as noble as you should be doing greater deeds than helping an old lady carry a potato sack. With armor like that, you should be rescuing a devastatingly beautiful princess from the clutches of evil.'

"The young man smiled at her and said, 'That sounds nice, lady, but there doesn't seem to be very many princesses in the need of being rescued. If I knew of one, I would be speeding off immediately to save her.' When the prince said this, the old woman also grinned, and he noticed that she was missing many teeth.

"What the prince didn't know, was that this old lady was really an evil sorceress in disguise. She had been slighted by Niro's father and wanted revenge. And, what better way to get revenge then to send his son on a fool's errand and then capture him?"

At this Hiro booed, and I smiled.

"She continued to grin in her sly way and said, 'How perfect! I just heard of a King who's daughter is locked away in a deep cave. An evil man, a sorcerer who was slighted by the King, has cast a spell on her and is planning to kill her unless the King steps down from the throne.' She paused and looked at the man beseechingly, 'I wonder what prizes the King would bestow on the man who rescues his lovely daughter…'"

The story continued on in that manner. I wasn't very experienced at telling stories, but Kankurou had told me several, so I just tried to make mine like the ones he told. Of course, his were actual tales passed down, while mine was just things clumsily drawn together last minute.

When the story was finished and the prince had escaped from the sorceress's clutches and had managed to rescue a beautiful maiden in the process, Hiro said, "That was a very good story. But, not as good as Kankurou's."

"Oh, thanks," I said, pretending to be upset.

Hiro patted my hand and I was once again struck by how adorable he was. "It's alright. Kankurou is the best story teller. My father says that Kankurou is so good because he loves a good story and always has."

"Kankurou does love stories, huh? I guess I could never be a match for him," I stood up and ruffled his hair. "Well, I better be on my way."

I was headed to Lady Hinata's chambers, thinking Temari would be there attending to her, when I suddenly realized something.

Kankurou loved a good story. So what better way to gain his support then with a story? Grinning like a madman, I changed directions and dashed to my room.

I waited nervously for Kankurou to enter the garden. I knew he came here often after lunch and my plan was to ambush him. I would tell him the story and give him no chance to escape without being rude.

I was frantically wondering where he could be and what was taking him so long, when he walked across a path and sat down on the marble bench. I darted from my hiding spot and perched beside him.

He looked at me sharply, probably wondering where I had suddenly appeared from and whether or not he should bolt for safety. I didn't give him much chance to think more on it, because I leaned forward and said, "Kankurou, can I tell you a story?"

"Uh," He started.

"Good, because the story I want to tell you is fascinating," I said. I had spent the last hour and a half memorizing this story from one of the books on the shelf in my guest chambers, and all I could do was hope that I didn't forget it or mess it up.

"Once there was a man named Iasius who dearly wanted to have a son. But, when his dear wife Arcadia became pregnant and gave birth, a baby girl was born, not a boy. Iasius was so upset, that he took little Atlanta and left her alone on a mountain to die." I started.

"Ino, I…," Kankurou said and I realized that he recognized the story. I wasn't too surprised. I doubt that there was a story that existed that Kankurou didn't know of.

"Please, Kankurou, don't interrupt my story. That's rude," I scolded before continuing my story. "Luckily for the baby, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, took pity on her and sent a she-bear to care for her until she was found by a band of hunters."

"The hunters took her as their own and raised her to be a great huntress and fighter, following the ways of the goddess who rescued her from certain death. When she was older, she heard about a giant boar ravaging the lands belonging to King Oineus and joined the many heroes who gathered to bring down the beast.

"King Oineus had foolishly forgotten a sacrifice to honor Artemis and, in her indignant anger, she sent the boar to terrorize the men and animals, and to prevent the crops from being sown. When the other heroes saw that a woman dared to have the intention to join the hunt, they scoffed at her. To them, the believed that woman were weak, inferior, and belonged in the homestead," I glanced at Kankurou from the corner of my eye, expecting him to look annoyed or at least uncomfortable. Instead he looked fairly amused.

"Their anger only grew when Atlanta far surpassed them in sword fighting, archery, and racing. When the time came for the actual hunt, and they tracked the great beast through the forest, the men were bested again when Atlanta was the first to injure the boar. Before she had done so, many had died in attempt to pierce the tough hide of the boar sent from the virgin goddess.

"After she wounded it, others were finally able to do the same and the King's son Meleager drove the killing thrust through the beast's thick hide. After he felled the beast, the prince, head over heels in love with the beautiful, yet strong, Atlanta, felt that she deserved the honor of having the beast's hide as a trophy. However, when the other men saw this, they became angry that a _woman_ would be given the prize when they, famous heroes, would not have any prize.

"So they all began to fight, and several people died. Meleager's whole family ended up dying that day," I said. Turning to look at Kankurou I commented, "You know, all those people wouldn't have had to die if they could only accept the fact that women can be strong, too. There's nothing wrong with it. I would rather be an Atlanta than an Andromeda."

"You would rather have a disastrous marriage and be changed into a lion instead of being saved by a prince and living happily ever after?" Kankurou asked with a half smile.

"You know what I mean."

"Well, how can I say no to that?" Kankurou said with a heavy sigh. I leapt up and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're splendid, Kankurou! When do we start?" I said, so giddy I could hardly contain myself. I felt like dancing about, but somehow refrained from doing so.

Kankurou grinned at me and said, "I guess we can start tomorrow. I'll pick you up from your room after breakfast. Dress sensibly."

"Oh, I will! Thank you so much, Kankurou!"

If there was one thing I learned this morning, it was that fighting was harder than I expected. Sure, I had expected it to be a challenge, but now as I sat down for a small break, I felt like it was impossible.

When I held my sword, I felt incredibly off balance and clumsy. I caught Kankurou trying to hide his laughter several times as I took a swing and fell or dropped the sword entirely.

Why was this so hard? It didn't look like it was this tough. When I watched the new soldiers training, it never seemed so difficult from my window. I groaned and laid flat on my back.

Kankurou sat down beside me and shrouded me in shadow. "You know," he said, leaning back on his arms and looking out over the training grounds, "I think you improved in that last try."

I snorted in disbelief and covered my eyes with my arm, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"I really think so, Ino. You didn't throw the sword, and you didn't fall right away," He said. When I didn't reply he said, "Come on, don't give up so easily. Let's go at it again."

"I'm not giving up, I just can't do it. The sword doesn't feel right in my hands," I whined.

"Then, get up, and I'll review the basics of fighting form."

I stood up and picked up my sword. Standing up, I saw that most of the other soldiers were watching me. I must be really entertaining to them, some stupid girl who thought she could fight failing miserably.

Kankurou was standing close beside me, shifting my hands on the handle to the correct position, when Gaara stepped onto the training grounds. His gaze passed me, but then he did a double take.

"Kankurou…," I warned, seeing Gaara's scary expression as he marched toward us. Kankurou followed my gaze and, seeing Gaara, leapt back.

"Gaara….I…Gaara, I'm sorry, I was just…I…," Kankurou started, stumbling over his words in his fright.

"I thought I told you no, Ino," Gaara said, glaring at me. I stepped closer and jabbed him in the chest angrily.

"Last time I checked, I didn't _belong_ to you and I could do what I wanted," I shouted. Any of the soldiers who weren't watching already were staring now, watching the normal stoic red head get angry at some woman foolish enough to think she could fight. I hated that everyone seemed to be against me, and this anger was fueled on by my previous failure.

"If you can do whatever you want and don't belong to me or have to listen to my wishes, then what's keeping you here? Go on and leave the castle," Gaara said, making me angry about how level-headed he sounded when I was shouting.

"Fine, then I will!" I shouted back, leaning over to pick my sword up off the ground. "I'm sure someone would be glad to take me in! I'll walk my way back home, just point me north and I'll be gone!"

"North's that way," Gaara said, pointing north and then crossing his arms.

"Goodbye, Kankurou! Tell Temari goodbye for me, too!" I said, still shouting for some reason. Holding my sword awkwardly at my side, I began marching north and away from Gaara.

I kept walking, waiting for Gaara to stop me, but he didn't come. Once I saw the first country house I slowed, wondering if he really was going to just let me leave. I didn't have any stuff with me, and I really was going to have to stop and ask someone to let me stay, or at least give me a meal.

I changed my course so that I was walking on the path, and decided that I would just stay the night at this house and see if Gaara came looking for me in the morning. Surely he was just trying to scare me into listening to him.

On the road I saw a small group approaching on horseback. When they saw me they began to slow down and I stopped and waited for them. There were four of them, three of them male and one female. The men were all wearing helmets that hid their faces, but the woman's head was bare and I recognized her.

"Sakura!" I shouted, running towards her as she dismounted. We caught each other in a hug and I began to cry. I couldn't believe it! I hadn't seen her since I was nine and her family visited Sasuke's castle. They lived by his aunt, and were allied with the Uchihas. Sakura and I became fast friends over the month they stayed.

I hadn't seen her since then, but her lands were famous for their dyes, and she liked to use them in her hair. With her beautiful green eyes and trademark pink hair, I would recognize her anywhere.

"Ino! What are you doing so far south? Are you still with the Akatsuki? Where are they at?" Sakura asked. One of the men removed their helmet and I saw that it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" I shouted, shocked and wondering if Shikamaru was going to pop out somewhere.

"Answer Sakura's question, Ino. I'm wondering the same things," Sasuke said.

I nodded and tried to calm myself down enough to explain. I told them the story of how the Akatsuki kidnapped me – though I left out my own stupidity – and how Gaara had saved me and taken care of me up until this point.

"Well, that explains a lot," Sakura said. "The town you stayed in that was preparing for war was preparing for the war your father was waging against the Akatsuki's foundation Kingdoms."

"I know, Deidara told me that when he broke my rib in the barn," I winced at the memory, remembering the pain Deidara had brought me, both physically and mentally.

"Deidara broke your rib?" Sasuke repeated, looking both shocked and angry. My story had been very abbreviated to save time and I had skipped over that part because I didn't want to have to talk about how my father was dead.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke quickly before giving me a once over. She said, "You don't look injured."

"I'm not anymore. It's healed mostly, now," I said, patting the healed rib.

"Why didn't this Gaara bring you home immediately?" Sasuke demanded.

"Well, I never told them who I was," I said. "I had just gotten out of a hostage situation, I didn't want to be there again. I feel that I trust them, but I'm trying to be careful."

"I want to meet him," Sasuke said. "We were headed there anyway, to speak with Lord Naruto."

I agreed to introduce them, and Sasuke pulled me up behind him on his horse and we rode back towards the castle. On the way back I found out that the other two men with them were guards who I didn't know.

We didn't run into Gaara on the way, and I was disappointed that he hadn't made an effort to stop me. Maybe he really wanted me to leave. I considered asking Sasuke to let me down and continue on my way, but decided against it since I knew that he would never allow it. Besides, I wanted to see Gaara again, even if he didn't want to see me.


	27. Unfair Circumstances

**Chapter 26: Unfair Circumstances  
**_(In which the Princess discovers more connections of the past, comforts an old friend, and feels guilty)_

"Sasuke," I started, leaning forward to speak into his ear so he could hear me over the clacking of horse feet on the cobblestone path. "Have…have you seen my father recently?"

Sasuke paused a second before saying, "No, I haven't."

Any hope that I was mistaken about my father's death and that Deidara was lying vanished and I had to look up to keep from crying.

I was still struggling when Sasuke asked, "Why were you so far from the castle? And, why do you have a sword?"

I sniffed and said, "I was leaving. The sword was to protect myself."

"And they just let you go?" Sasuke asked. I could hear the doubt leak into his voice, and even though I still had hurt feelings that none of them had made any efforts to pursue me, I felt the urge to defend them. After spending several weeks with them, they felt like family. And it seemed at the moment they were the only family I had.

"Gaara was mad at me. I went against what he said and roped Kankurou into training me. When Gaara found out, he yelled at me and I said I was going to leave. He didn't stop me," I said, frowning at the recent memory.

"Hm," Sasuke hummed. Sakura rode her horse closer.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" She asked, looking at us curiously.

"It's not your concern," Sasuke said, pulling his helmet back on as the castle loomed largely in front of the group. Sakura pulled away, looking chastised. I didn't appreciate Sasuke's terseness to her and offered her an apologetic smile. She returned the smile, but there was a crease between her eyebrows.

We were stopped at the castle gates. The guards seemed to recognize me and said, "Ah, Lady Ino. We were wondering when you would return. Hugo here said he thought you would be too stubborn to return until morning. I said you would return tonight, and look! I was right." He turned to look at the soldier who he had named as Hugo and said, "You owe me, Hugo."

"She didn't come back on her own. It looks like she was brought back," Hugo said, shaking his head no. "If she had come back on her own, I bet she would have waited until morning."

"I wouldn't have waited at all. I wasn't planning on returning until I ran into this group," I said, annoyed that they were betting on when I would return, doubting that I would have the will to leave completely. They didn't look convinced, and I angrily snapped, "Well, are you going to stand here all day, gambling, or are you going to let us in?"

After my impatient remark, the guards scrambled to open the gates. They didn't even check to see who the rest of my company were, they were so flustered at forgetting themselves. In front of a lady no less. Still, I would have to tell Naruto about the lack of security. What if I had been bringing in murderers? Or, I had been coerced into sneaking the Akatsuki in so they could finish off Naruto and Gaara quickly in the night? I wasn't, but there was always the possibility.

Sasuke prodded his mount and lead the way into the castle grounds. Once we had reached the castle doors, I saw Lord Naruto standing on the stairs. Sasuke dismounted and then helped me down, while one of the guards helped Sakura down.

Naruto approached us, and he seemed to be well acquainted with both Sasuke and Sakura.

"Lord Sasuke, you bastard, I was wondering when you would finally get here," Naruto said, recognizing Sasuke, even with his helmet still on. With one wave of his hand, Naruto dispatched servants to take the horses' reigns and to lead them off to the stable.

"I told you I would not arrive until tonight," Sasuke said, his voice thick with irritation. This just caused Naruto to smile broader, and I was bemused at their strange relationship. He pretended not to notice the blonde's merriment and continued on, "You're not fit to be a King if you can't pay attention, Moron."

Naruto just shook his head and turned his attention to Sakura. "Ah, Sakura. I haven't seen you in a long while."

"Aren't you going to say something about how much I've matured?" Sakura asked, cocking her dyed head to the side.

"You do look older. Are those wrinkles?" Naruto said, and I couldn't help but grin along as he ducked her angry fist, even though I felt left out. I did not know either Sakura or Naruto half as well as they seemed to know each other, and I felt like I was spying on the trio's intimate conversations. I turned away and watched as the horses were being brushed out, way across the castle yard and over by the stables.

"And that's why you dye your hair, right? To hide the gray hairs?" Naruto said, not knowing when to stop. I heard a thump as Sakura's punch landed that time and glanced back in time to see Naruto nursing his head, Sasuke looking on impassively, as if he didn't really care or not what happened. But, he didn't seem irritated anymore.

I was forced to endure the awkwardness for a little while longer, until Kankurou came out the door and down the steps. When he looked at me, his face softened into a smile and he rushed towards me.

"Ino!" Kankurou said, patting me heavily on the back and knocking my sword out of my hand. "I was so worried about you. Temari was convinced you would come back, but I thought you would be too stubborn to come back on your own!"

I leaned over and retrieved my sword, before answering, "Why do people keep trying to predict my actions like they know me?"

"Because, Ino, you're not that hard to figure out. You're nice and sweet most of the time, but when you're angry you're a force to be reckoned with. And stubborn as a mule," Kankurou said, that stupid, huge grin on his face.

"I don't appreciate being compared with a mule," I said with a scowl. I noticed that Sasuke edged closer to me and was glaring at Kankurou for being so friendly with me. I said, "Oh, forgive me. Lord Sasuke, this is Lord Kankurou."

"Oh, I know who he is," Sasuke said, nearly growling. I was taken aback by his reaction and I looked between the two. Sasuke was still glowering, and Kankurou looked annoyed.

"Why hold a grudge when Naruto doesn't?" Kankurou asked with a heavy sigh.

I felt like I had missed something. "What are you two talking about?"

"This man and his siblings were allied with a man who belonged to the group who killed my parents," Sasuke said. I looked at him in surprise. It wasn't often that Sasuke talked about his parents' death, something I understood completely now. "And, I continue to hold a grudge because I lost more than Naruto and I'm not so quick to forgive."

"Sasuke," Sakura said, and everyone turned to face her, "Can we argue about this later? The journey's been a long one, and I would like to take a bath."

The atmosphere was tense and I could almost feel the killer intent radiating off of Sasuke in waves. His jaw muscle was taut, and he didn't seem to be willing to just walk away so easily, but to our relief he relaxed slightly after a moment. "Fine," he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along, "let's go, Ino."

I didn't want to cause any problems, so I allowed him to drag me after him as he pushed past Naruto and entered the castle. He nearly scared a maid out of her skin, growling at her to show him where his chambers were.

"Sasuke, calm down," I said, trying to pull away from his grip. He was squeezing too tightly and it hurt. "I told you that I was staying with Kankurou and his siblings. Why did you react like that? You scared me…."

"I don't understand. Why would these murderers save you?" Sasuke said. I continued to try to shake his grip to no avail.

"Sasuke…you're hurting me," I said. He let go and glared up at where the maid was walking. She had one ear turned back towards us slightly, and I could tell she was listening. I leaned in to whisper to Sasuke, "I know you're upset, but do you think you could calm down until we get to your room?"

Sasuke nodded tersely and we were silent until the maid brought us to some chambers that seemed considerably nicer than mine. There was gold everywhere; embroidering the navy blue fabrics, tracing the door frames, in the furniture. It was splendid.

The maid curtseyed and waited to be signaled to leave. I saw Haya appear in the hallway over her shoulder. Sasuke dispatched both of them, and I sat down on the heavy, navy blue comforter. It was soft and full under my hands and I sighed in jealousy, "Such a beautiful bed."

Sasuke didn't respond, and took to pacing up and down his bedroom, looking uncannily like Naruto had when he was waiting for news on Hinata. I waited for him to say something, but when he remained silent I ventured, "You never answered my question."

"I fought them, but I didn't know what their names were. All I knew was that they were the princes of Marugame," Sasuke said, not pausing in his pacing.

"Marugame?" I repeated. There seemed to be so much I didn't know. "Start at the beginning, because I feel like I'm left out in the dark alone."

Sasuke stopped, sighed, and seemed to wonder how to begin. After a moment I was going to prompt him again, growing impatient of sitting there waiting, when he crossed the room and sat beside me. He said, "Further up North, and west of Shino's Kingdom Wakamatsu is the Kingdom of Bicchu. There the King is Orochimaru, and his soldiers are inexplicably connected with music and are named for it. People call them the Sound, and his best fighters are called the Sound Five.

The Kingdoms that surround his – Nagoya, Anotsu, Kakegawa – are allied with him. Lord Orochimaru is an extremely immoral man, and he sends his army around to terrorize Kingdoms not under his alliance and taking control in any way he could."

"Wait, Shikamaru told me that you were allied with Anotsu. That's the Kingdom of Lord Suigetsu, right? I think I saw him at your court one time, when I was visiting to celebrate the hunt. You'd gotten new friends since we'd seen each other last and you didn't have much time for me," I interrupted, feeling the hurt anew as I recalled the memory.

"Anotsu is only loosely allied with me. The alliance benefits my cause and his, it doesn't really exceed that. Now, as I was saying, Orochimaru kept building up his 'alliance', hoping to eventually have supreme control over the land. His next move was to seize Iwakuni, a Kingdom down south and a major trade city. It was also the base of the Akatsuki. The leader, Pein, is the King there, and already.

"Orochimaru also enlisted the support of a nearby land that was also bustling with trade, Marugame. He tried to spread his influence to Shimabara, the land and castle I inherited from my Aunt, but my family refused. When Orochimaru tried to scare us into joining by sending the Akatsuki, the Marugame Princes, and the Sound Five to lay siege to the Kingdom walls, my father marched down to aid them. My aunt, uncle, and father all died in the resulting fight. My mother, who had stayed behind to manage the castle, wasted away after the news returned of my father's death, and who was the one responsible."

Sasuke stopped and closed his eyes, almost as if the memory was still so painful that it was threatening to overwhelm him still, several years later. I wondered if I would still feel such acute pain over my father's death so far down the line. Too curious to let the story end on such a note, I had to ask, "And, who was the one responsible?"

"Itachi, my brother," Sasuke answered, not opening his eyes. I laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, finally understanding why he had changed so radically. It would have saved a great deal of pain if I had known from the beginning, but it was too late for that now.

I wanted to ask him why, if his brother was responsible for his parents' death, he called Kankurou and Gaara murderers, but he leaned his head into my shoulder and I decided to ask later. It was almost like he was craving motherly affection, so I did what I remembered my mother often doing, running my fingers through his hair and messaging his scalp. The tenseness eased out of his shoulders, and after a while his whole body was leaning against me as he snored softly. I gently eased him down so that he was laying and covered him with the thick blue blanket.

It was heartbreaking to see how the people I cared most about struggling against the unfair circumstances life had thrown at them, and not being able to do much to help them. Why was life so cruel, that it would take away parents before their children even grew up and to induce infighting and murder among families.

My thoughts turned to Gaara, and suddenly I felt immensely guilty and dirty. What would Gaara think if he knew that I had just spent the past hour and a half in a man's bed chamber and had messaged his scalp until he fell asleep? At the time, it had seemed like a friendly or family type action, but now I was ashamed by the implications that came with it. What did Sasuke think of me? Did he think me too forward, or interested? I thought of him only as a friend.

Embarrassed, I slipped away from the room and ran back to my room. My stomach growled, reminding me that I had missed lunch and that if I fell asleep, I would miss dinner, too. But, the last thing I wanted to do then was face Gaara. I was too ashamed.

Curling under the blanket, I promptly fell asleep. I don't know how long I had slept when someone came to my door and knocked. The unknown visitor called me for dinner, but I drowsily called that I wasn't feeling well and rolled back over to sleep.

Later, the door creaked open and I glanced up to see Gaara standing in the doorway. I sat up with a stretch and asked him what he was doing in my chambers, just opening the door like so.

"I came to see you," Gaara said, his face soft as he ventured across the room. "I came to apologize for not pursuing you after you left. I was just so…hurt…that you would just leave me like that."

"You were?" I asked, my heart fluttering wildly as he reached the bed and pulled back the covers to climb into bed with me.

"Of course I was," Gaara said. He put his hand under my chin and turned my gaze to match his, "I love you, Ino."

My stomach dropped in surprise and I stammered, trying to respond coherently, but my mouth wasn't cooperating. Gaara didn't seem to mind, and didn't wait for me to get an actual thought out, leaning in and covering my mouth with his.

A warm feeling settled in my stomach, and we kissed until my brain was begging for air. Gaara pulled back slightly to gasp for breath, before leaning in and kissing me a second time. And a third. And a fourth. A fifth. It was getting around the eighth time when I realized that this wasn't Gaara. It couldn't possibly be. Gaara was clueless when it came to romantic relations, and he would never come and bear his soul to me. Besides, I doubted he cared for me like that. He had clearly showed earlier this morning that he didn't care what I did, and hadn't even shown up when I returned.

I pulled away, blocking him from kissing me again. He looked at me with an enquiring look that I realized was also not in Gaara's character. Several thoughts ran through my mind, the most improbable and extreme being that Gaara had been replaced by a doppelganger.

"You're not Gaara," I said, scooting away. The man who wasn't Gaara's face tightened with anger.

"What are you saying? Are you calling me a liar?" the imposter growled. "You shouldn't be talking. Purposely hiding your identity from me, and then going behind my back with Sasuke. Why don't you just marry him and leave me life forever."

Then the walls began to fade and I realized I was dreaming. I sat up, shaking the sleepiness away. It had seemed so real. My face was wet with tears and I felt all confused and insubstantial, like one prod would knock me and my whole world down. Huddling under my blanket, it took me a while to fall back asleep.


	28. Fate as an Excuse

**Chapter 27: Fate as an Excuse  
**_(In which the Princess talks about Homer, helps pick some flowers, and plays the flute)_

I woke up the not-so pleasant sensation of having a headache and being weak and shaky from lack of food simultaneously. It wasn't something I felt often, the only time being when I was with the Akatsuki – I tried to suppress memories from that time – and I felt almost nauseous when I forced myself out of bed.

The most logical actions to take would be to ring for a maid to bring my food or to drag my sorry self down to eat breakfast. But, at the moment I just wanted to get some fresh air. So, once out of my room, I took the most direct route to the garden.

Luckily I didn't run into anyone, and I managed to make it to the garden without any incident. I was going to sit down on the marble bench, but felt an urge to sprawl myself out on the grass. So I did so. The grass was still wet with dew, but it smelled clean and crisp and was cool on my aching head, so I didn't care much that it dampened my clothes.

I laid on my back for quite some time, realizing that I would have to eventually get up and return to being a normal person and satisfying my normal person needs. Like eating. And bathing. And talking with people. Maybe telling certain people about certain secrets I kept from them and hoping that they didn't get too upset at the deception.

I couldn't really imagine Temari or Kankurou getting angry. Temari would be smug of course. She had hinted on multiple occasions that she knew my true identity and tried to get me to admit that she was right so we could just get past this charade. Kankurou would probably laugh and crack some sort of joke.

The only person I was worried about was Gaara. No matter how close I'd like to think I was to him, I had to admit that I didn't know him all that well. I can't say if he knew all along like Temari probably did or not. Would he be angry when he found out, or just impassive?

I realized that I should get up and go tell them before someone else did, for at least some kind of damage control. Then, I realized that someone had probably already told them. Then, I realized that it was sure difficult to motivate myself to do anything today because I was so tired and achy, and wanted nothing more than to just lay here and perhaps get a nice nap.

The idea sounded good, and my eyes were starting to drift shut when I heard someone's footsteps on the garden path. The shoes made soft noises on the stones and I thought they were still a way off, when a voice came from right above me.

"What are you doing lying in the dirt?" came an unmistakably male voice. I looked up, hoping to see Gaara even though the voice and tone didn't quite match. I peeked. It wasn't him. It was the silver-eyed man with long brown hair that I was certain was related to Lady Hinata. I remember hearing his name once at the table, but it was escaping my mind at the moment.

"Because it's comfortable," I answered, closing my eyes again. His voice moved and I figured he sat down on the bench, though I didn't bother opening my eyes to check.

"That would be what beds are for," he replied smoothly.

I snorted rather ungracefully and said, "I wanted some fresh air and the cool grass feels good for my aching head."

"Your dress is soaked," he said.

I was annoyed, but couldn't quite muster up the will to relocate. So I settled with, "So what do I care. I'm trying to sleep, can't you tell?"

"The Princess Ino I met didn't lie about in the grass and, though she could be short sometimes and stubborn, she was never outright rude," he said.

"So you know who I am," I said. "I'm not surprised that it's spread already."

"If you are implying that Lord Sasuke and his companions told who you are, they haven't. They've been too busy settling in and preparing for the meeting to talk about your identity," he said, making me feel embarrassed for assuming that who I was would be at the top of their priorities. "As for me, I already knew who you are. Though, I'm not shocked that you don't remember me."

I opened my eyes at this and looked at him. He was right, I didn't remember him. I tapped my lips thoughtfully for a minute or so, before giving in and saying, "You're right. I don't remember who you are. I'm sorry."

"With all the suitors you've had, I knew you probably wouldn't. I was one of the first ones, from the kingdom Imbari, west and a ways north from Kumamoto. You rejected me because you didn't agree with my views on destiny. You said –"

"That destiny was a load of rubbish, because people make and break themselves. I remember that now," I said.

"I might have been offended if you hadn't," he said with a small smile. He had a bright orange flower in his hand and he rubbed the petals absentmindedly.

"In my defense you have changed a lot since the last time I saw you," I said. After a small pause I said, "I'm sorry, I still can't remember your name."

"Lord Neji," He replied in that smooth, confident way of his. He was soft spoken, not one to raise his voice often, but when he spoke, his attitude and tone seemed to somehow demand respect. It was intriguing. "I remember that you also said that if our life's paths were already established before we were born, then that would be rather boring. And that your mentor told you that people used destiny as an excuse."

"Yeah, he had read me one of the novels written by Homer. There was a man in it that believed in destiny and always used it as an excuse to be a horrible man," I said. It was sort of awkward to talk to him while lying on the ground, so I forced myself to climb up onto the bench beside him.

He nodded, "Agamemnon from the Iliad. Hector also uses fate as an excuse, but he is a hero because of it. There's good that comes from that belief. What do you believe now? Now that you've been on this big journey and are so far from home?"

"I don't know," I shrugged my shoulders. "I really haven't had much time for deep philosophic thinking, and Shikamaru usually led me. I guess I believe that some things are predetermined, like major events or the meeting of certain people. But, that your actions and the paths you take that lead you to those certain events are your own choice, made by your own free will."

"Interesting. What made you change your beliefs?" Neji asked.

My head hurt too badly for this kind of thinking, so I just shrugged again. "I don't know. It's too early in the morning for me to answer those kinds of questions." I pointed at the flower in his hand, "Who's that for?"

"Lady Tenten," He said. I smiled at this and he waved his hand, dismissing the thoughts he could probably read easily on my face. "It's nothing like that. She mentioned that she would like to have a hibiscus to put in her vase and I was already passing through the garden so I thought I would grab her one. Her father has helped my uncle on many occasions. It's only a token of my appreciation for that."

"That's really sweet, but," I said, shaking my head and tried to hold in my laugh, "that's not a hibiscus."

"It's not?" He asked, looking down at the flower in surprise. I put my hand to my mouth in useless attempt to stifle my laughter. His eyebrows drew together, and I knew that he was a proud man who didn't like to be laughed at. But, then again, there weren't very many people who enjoyed being laughed at.

"I'm sorry for laughing," I said, taking a deep breath and trying to look serious. "That flower is actually a laelia flower. They look very similar, though, and are commonly mistaken for hibiscus flowers. I think there are some white and red ones over by the pond."

"Ah, which side?" He asked.

"I'll help you," I said, pushing my hair out of my face, "_if_ you can provide me with information."

He looked at me warily. "What kind of information?"

"What do you know about the situation between Gaara and Sasuke?" I asked, trying to appear nonchalant when – in reality – I was eager to know.

"I don't know the story," He said, shaking his head. "I guess I will have to find the flowers myself. You said they were red and white?"

"I'll help you still," I said. I showed him where they were and, because I was in a better mood and feeling like I could go back to being a normal, social person, I even helped him make a bouquet.

"Are you sure this isn't too much?" He asked, hefting the relatively small flower arrangement like it was a huge ornate thing. "I don't want to over do it."

"Hm, if you're that worried about it, I could make it smaller. If that's even possible." I pulled out some of the flowers until it was just three flowers left, a white hibiscus and two alpine asters. It was really simple, and I had the urge to add some of the flowers back to make it fuller, but somehow refrained.

Once he was gone, I sighed and realized that I still felt shaky. I looked up and estimated that it was nearly noon. That meant it was about lunch time. I rubbed my stomach, suddenly nervous about going back into the castle. That meant I would have to see Gaara for the first time since I left.

The only thing that kept me walking was my growling stomach and the delicious scent wafting down the hall. My pace quickened, and within minutes I was sitting at the table with a steaming plate before me. I was getting ready to eat when I realized that half of the table was still empty and remembered that it was improper to begin eating when everyone was not seated yet. Reluctantly, I put my silverware back down beside my plate and waited. It was then, that I noticed that not only was I sitting in a different spot, but the table was also a different one. It was larger and the polish was a different color.

The only other people at the table were Lady Hinata, her little sister, Sakura, Kiba and Kankurou. Because of the new arrivals, and the square shape of the new table, Hanabi had been pushed down all the way to the opposite end of her sister. I felt bad for her, and wondered why I was so far up the table. Sakura was right next to Naruto, I noticed, and I resolved to ask how he and Sakura met, since he'd only been royalty for three or four years.

I thought about talking to Kankurou while we waited, but he was seated next to Kiba, and just wasn't in the right state to even begin to deal with him at the moment. So, I mostly looked around while people slowly trickled in. I wished they would hurry, I was eager to eat. My hunger didn't stop me from noticing that Neji and Tenten walked in together. I smiled at them both and Neji just shook his head again.

When everyone had finally sat down, I reached for my food, and was close to taking the first bite, when Naruto rose to speak. I sighed and put my silverware down, once again. If I wasn't starving, everyone would have no problem just letting me eat. I stifled a sigh.

"Since the people who actually showed up to supper last night were sparse, I thought that I would wait to announce our new visitors tonight. Even though you've probably crossed paths with them already," Lord Naruto said.

I glanced at Sasuke sitting in the seat next to me, and saw that he was watching Naruto intently, his jaw muscle taut. I glanced across at Gaara and unintentionally made eye contact. His gaze shifted to Sasuke, to Sakura, and then finally to Naruto.

"Lord Sasuke and Lady Sakura are our honored visitors," Naruto said, looking around at everyone. "We will treat them thus. If there is bad blood between any of you, I suggest you forget it until you have left my castle."

It was odd to hear Naruto speak like that, usually he was the one being reprimanded. How ironic that he was the one lecturing now. I wanted to laugh, but I felt it was out of place. "Thank you," He said, sitting back down, "you may eat now."

That was the best sentence I had heard all day. I scooped up my spoon and had to force myself to eat at a normal speed. As it was, I still finished before many of the others, who were leisurely eating and conversing. I guess that was their privilege since they chose to actually eat their meals.

My eyes began to wander, out of boredom now that I was no longer preoccupied with filling my belly. At the head of the table sat Naruto and his poor over-pregnant wife. She should have had the baby already, but for some reason she would go into labor and nothing would happen for several hours. It was extremely irritating and patience-trying.

Next after Hinata was Gaara, not losing much status even with the arrival of Sakura and Sasuke. Kankurou followed, also relatively in the same place. Straight across from me, unfortunately, was Kiba. I suppose I should forgive him of being the bearer bad news, but I couldn't deny the fact that I was petty and stubborn.

Neji sat next to him, and I watched him for a little bit to see if he glanced at Tenten. But, my staring only resulted in him throwing me a curious glance, so I moved on. I had reached Hanabi at the end of the table. Beside her was Tenten, and I felt she was too nice to be at the end. Though, with so many royal guests, I could see how difficult it would be to place them so they wouldn't be offended.

Starting back up the table was Temari, and then me. On the other side of me was Sasuke, and beside him was Sakura. I leaned towards Sasuke and said, "I moved up the table."

"And?" Sasuke asked simply, playing absentmindedly with his food.

"I just think that's weird," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "Did you tell Lord Naruto of my status?"

"Sakura might have," Sasuke said. I glanced past him at the pink haired girl. She was having an intense argument with Naruto. It was something about kingdom exports.

"Oh," I said. I noticed he had barely eaten his food. "Why aren't you eating?"

"I have a lot on my mind."

"Oh," I looked around the room again as Kiba engaged him in a cross table conversation about boats. He asked something about whether or not Sasuke had taken one and how the weather was.

Not caring much for what Kiba had to say, I tuned them out and found myself people watching again. There seemed to be a sort of forced feeling in the dinner that I hadn't picked up on at first. Kankurou's jokes sounded half hearted and weren't as affective as usual. Sasuke was even less conversational then normal. Gaara was extremely intent on his food. Lady Hinata kept looking at them all, her expression border-line frightened.

Suddenly Lord Naruto was talking to me. I snapped out of my thoughts and tried to catch what he was saying.

"So, would you mind playing for us, Ino?" He asked.

"Oh, I," I said, rather eloquently. Play what? A servant came from the side of the room producing a flute. I stood and took it. "Oh…sure."

Caught a little of guard, I put the mouthpiece to my lips and played. The first notes were a little pitchy, which I blamed to the fact that I hadn't practiced since before the Akatsuki kidnapped me. After that the notes became stronger, and I played the first tune that came to my mind. The one that I often played when Shikamaru and I weren't in the mood for a lesson, or after a rather heavy conversation. It was slow and almost sad. When I heard it, I thought of the Earth dying as winter overtook the land.

When I finished the last couple of notes and opened my eyes, I noticed that it had been a bad song choice. Everyone's face was somber. Taking a deep breath, I played a more cheerful song. It was shorter and more repetitive, but it seemed to help a bit.

When I was finished, they clapped and I bowed. It was weird to have this sort of attention on me again, and I looked at Gaara to see his reaction. He wasn't even looking at me, but glaring at Sasuke. I felt my spirits drop again, and struggled to keep a cheerful face as I handed the flute back to the servant and took my seat again.

"That was wonderful," Lady Hinata said, her voice sounding weak compared to her bolder husband. "I'm glad that Lady Sakura told us that you were such a good player."

"Thank you, Lady Sakura, for that compliment. Did you tell them about how you're terrific at the harp?" I said, returning the _gracious_ favor. She grinned at me.

"Lord Naruto doesn't happen to have a harp. He doesn't much like them," Sakura said. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her.

"Wherever did you learn to play so well?" Temari asked, a wistful note in her voice. "My father could care less if we played music, so long as we could hold our own in a fight – verbal or physical."

"Ah, my mom taught me. She was simply wonderful at it. She knew other instruments, and attempted to teach them to me, but I didn't really take to any of them," I was reminded of sitting on a window sill, looking high out over the kingdom, while my mother played music. Sometimes she would stop and we would both look out together, not saying anything, just looking.

"Your mother did play exceedingly well," Sakura said, smiling. "My mother would always complain that she would never catch up. I think that is why she coerced me into learning the harp, when I would rather just focus on my studies."

I glanced at Temari and saw that she had a calculating look on her face. I hoped she wouldn't bring up the matter of my identity, because I wanted to explain to them personally why I would deceive them. I had no desire to address the whole table about my deception.

What followed was a short conversation conducted through facial expressions where Temari told me we would talk about it later, and I agreed that we would.

I wasn't looking forward to it.


	29. My Father is Dead Because of Me

**Chapter 28: My father is Dead Because of Me  
**_(In which the Princess nearly dies from shock and reveals her secret)_

Even though I knew I had to face Temari and I had promised to explain things to her, I found myself avoiding her. That was my reason for being in the library, ducking in at the last moment when I heard her voice further up the hall. I hoped that she wouldn't see the door close and come in after me, and, to stop her from spotting me if she did, I hid myself behind a book case.

Her laughing voice passed by, and I wondered who she was talking to that was amusing her so much. Probably Kankurou. Not that it really mattered. The point was that I was hiding behind a dusty book shelf that probably hadn't been touched in ages, all because I was too much of a coward to face Temari yet.

I don't know why I was so afraid. Temari had been hinting for so long that she knew the truth, or at least a great deal of it, and she didn't seem to be too upset at the charade. Perhaps annoyed, but not angry.

"How long are you going to hide behind that shelf?"

I whirled around in shock, nearly losing my balance in the process, and saw Sasuke sitting at one of the heavy, wooden desks. There was a pile of books stacked beside him, and he was pouring over a green bound one with uneven letters.

I put a hand over my heart, "Sasuke, don't surprise me like that. I almost died from the shock."

"Hm," he said absently, scribbling a note onto his parchment. Curious, I moved closer and looked at what he was writing. He had drawn a map on the parchment, and was currently drawing connecting lines between the Kingdoms and detailing alliances.

"What are you doing?" I asked, hoping he would give me more explanation for why he and Gaara despised each other so much. And why Gaara was acting so cool with me lately. Thinking about how he would barely glance at me anymore made my chest tighten, so I tried not to dwell on it much.

"I'm preparing notes for the next war meeting we're having. More monarchs will be arriving throughout the week, as the decision we will be discussing will impact them all."

"Interesting," I said, thinking about how much royalty was going to be in the castle and how much it would change the table arrangement. "Would it really be wise for everyone to gather in one place, though? The Akatsuki could just attack this one castle and, if they were successful, take care of all of our alliance at once."

"You think you're the first one to think of that, Lady Ino?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrows at her. "Of course not all of the royalty will be here. Many will leave a family member behind to run their estates and to take over in the event that the castle is attacked and we're all killed. On top of that, we aren't heralding to the countryside that we are all meeting up."

"Oh," I said. Curiosity pressed me to ask, "What is the meeting about?"

Sasuke smirked. "Those who are involved in the meeting know, and that's plenty."

"That's hardly fair. If you were curious about something I was up to, I would tell you," I sniffed. He was wearing that smug smile of his, and I knew I would be unable to get anything out of him. Sighing, I stood and looked at the many books lining the shelves. Here in the library were hundreds upon hundreds of books, seemingly older than time itself, and then us two people, who haven't lived twenty years yet.

I was reaching for a book on a high shelf that had caught my attention – the cover was a royal purple – when the door creaked open. Worried that it was Temari and she had caught me in my hiding spot, I whirled around. It was Gaara. His face hardened as he saw Sasuke sitting at the table.

He strode in, pulled down a leather bound book, and left. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should go after him after seeing that look on his face, but decided that I would have to face him sooner or later. Maybe I would finally be able to face Temari afterward. Besides, I hadn't forgotten about training

"See you at supper," I called to Sasuke over my shoulder as I ran out after Gaara. He was heading back in the direction of his chambers, and I stopped him before he passed around the corner.

I wondered if it was just my imagination that he regarded me with a cooler expression than even the ones he'd been giving me lately or not and almost changed my mind. I took a deep steadying breath and said, "I haven't seen you around much, Gaara."

"I have been busy," He answered, moving again towards his chambers. I followed, having to walk quicker to match his pace. He wasn't much taller than me, but his strides were longer.

"Oh," I said. I took another steadying breath and reminded myself that I wasn't just some random girl that Gaara saved, but the princess of Kumamoto who had dealt with all sorts of suitors and ambassadors. I could handle this one man, right? With fists clenched I said, "If you can manage the time, I have something I need to tell you and another thing I need to ask of you."

He looked at me, his hand resting impatiently on the door knob to his chambers. I straightened under his scrutiny. "What is it, then?"

"I have to confess that," I started, and realized it was a terrible way to begin. So, I tried again, "I'm sorry that I haven't told you before now…I mean it's not like I told you I wasn't. But, I'm the Princess of Kumamoto. My father is Lord Inoichi, and I'm Princess Ino."

"I know," Gaara said and I was thrown off balance.

"How do you know?" I demanded in my shock.

Gaara said, "I fought Akatsuki and Deidara revealed your identity long ago. Kankurou knows as well. It hardly matters."

"Oh, I…I guess it doesn't really. I just thought things would be better off if we were more open," I said, feeling strangely on the defensive now. "I wasn't the only one not sharing secrets. Like, you never told me that you were royalty from Marugame. That you used to be in alliance with Bicchu, a Kingdom that happens to be the enemy of my own. Does that hardly matter?"

"I wouldn't consider those secrets. I have made no move to conceal them from you, and I don't think that they are any of your business," Gaara said.

My hands were shaking as I fought to keep my anger in check. If I didn't control myself, Gaara would march into his room and I would be left outside with my questions. "If I believe it is my business, than it is. Any alliance your Kingdom makes that is against alliances mine makes could cause a rift in our friendship. Yes, friendship, Gaara. I consider you one of my friends, whether or not you consider me one of yours."

"It wasn't an alliance that I made. It was a foolish one of my father's. A mistake, and we all nearly died for it," Gaara answered, a hard anger in his face.

"When I asked Sasuke why things were so tense between you, he mentioned that alliance. But, it doesn't explain anything at all. He calls you murderers. I don't understand why he would call the man who saved me a murderer. Perhaps you can explain that to me?"

"Before we became part of Naruto's alliance, my father and Lord Orochimaru lead an attack on Sasuke and his friends' Kingdoms. I fought Sasuke. I was winning, I think, before our fight was interrupted," Gaara said. There was a crease in his brow as he remembered the fight. "That's when Lord Orochimaru revealed that he was using my father. It was a grave mistake on his part, because my father was nearly as moral-less as him and less loyal. We joined Sasuke's side and fought against Orochimaru."

"Why does Sasuke say that he lost more than Naruto, then? If neither of you won the fight?" I pressed.

Gaara rubbed his cheek and sighed, "He blames Marugame for supporting Bicchu and leading his brother to the Akatsuki."

"Itachi is part of the Akatsuki?" I asked. Maybe I had been so focused on my own pain and personal tormentor Deidara to notice much of the other Akatsuki members.

"He is," Gaara said, "but he wasn't there when you were with them."

"I wonder where he was," I pondered aloud. Gaara regarded me with the softest expression I'd seen from him in days, and I felt a strange and sudden urge to touch him. Knowing that he would probably push me away, I smoothed the wrinkles over his chest. The fabric was rich, soft, and warm from contact with his skin, and I could feel his muscles. His eyes searched my face for a moment, before he shoved my hands away.

I was shocked by his sudden violence, because he had never reacted so angrily to my actions - even when I had trained against his will, and I barely remembered the other reason why I had searched for him. "Gaara," I said quickly, hoping to stop him before he disappeared into his chambers where I could not follow. He turned to look at me. The expression on his face was angry, but there was another element to it I couldn't decipher. "I still want to train. Will you train me, or will I have to ask Kankurou again?"

It seemed that he wanted to hit me, but I refused to allow myself to flinch. Princess Ino would never flinch to anyone, never back down, even if that person was the fearsome Gaara from Marugame.

"I will train you," He said tersely, and then shut the door.

I pumped my fist in the air, not caring that I probably looked foolish, and cheered. Gaara was going to train me! Now all I had to do was find Temari and confess my secret with her, and everything would get better. Maybe after spending some more time with Gaara I could figure out why Gaara was acting the way he was and fix it.

I was heading down the hallway, seeking out Temari, when I finally recognized the other part of Gaara's expression. It had been hurt. What had I done to warrant that reaction? I was still considering this, when I accidentally bumped into Kankurou. I looked up in surprise.

"Don't think too hard, Ino. You'll hurt yourself," He jested, and I jabbed him hard in the ribs.

"You should watch yourself when you're speaking to a lady. That's hardly proper, especially for the Crown Prince," I teased back. He did his best to look reprimanded, but he couldn't stop the smile from resurfacing.

"What were you thinking about, anyhow?" He asked, ruffling my hair. I stretched away from him, because I would have to find a maid to fix my intricately pinned up hair, but laughed all the same.

"I told Gaara who I really was and found out that you and him already know that I'm Princess Ino, but just allowed me to continue my act. I'm embarrassed," I admitted, watching carefully for his reaction.

Kankurou sighed heavily. "We didn't really understand why you wouldn't tell us who you were, but Gaara and I weren't too worried about it. I, I don't know about him, figured you would tell us in your own time."

"I was scared to tell. I felt like I could trust you, but common sense told me that I hadn't known you long enough. I didn't want to end up a hostage again. So, I kept quiet," I explained, even though he hadn't asked me why I would lie. He nodded.

"Gaara and I never told Temari, but I suspect she guessed at who you were. To be honest, there aren't very many Inos around for there to be wars fought for and Gaara rescued you from the Akatsuki. They raped common women, but never took them for hostage," Kankurou shrugged his shoulders.

I felt a blush bloom on my face, embarrassed that it had been so obvious who I was and that everyone was in on the secret except for me. I hated being embarrassed, it gave me a strange feeling in my stomach and I wasn't much used to it. So, I asked, "War fought for me?"

"Yes, the one we had to avoid and take a ship because of. The one that Naruto and I are being sucked into joining to stop the Akatsuki finally," Kankurou said.

My father had started a war to get me back? If I hadn't snuck out that night, I would be safely married to Lord Shino and he would still be alive. I also wouldn't know Gaara, Kankurou, Temari, Tenten, Naruto, Hinata, and everyone else. Was meeting them worth the price of my father's life? My heart hurt, and I pressed my hand against it hard to try and ease the pain. "Why not return me to my Kingdom so that the war can stop?"

"Too late. The war has already been waged, and there's no ending it until one side has been defeated. Hopefully it will be the Akatsuki who'll fall, but there's no saying. There have been hard casualties on both sides," Kankurou said.

"Are you joining the war?" I asked. I was split on whether I wanted them too or not. On one hand, I wanted them to because I wanted them to care about me enough to do so. But, on the other, I didn't want them to fight and possibly die for me.

"We already have," Kankurou said. My head was whirling with all the surprises, but some how I kept my composure. I touched Kankurou's shoulder lightly and looked him right in the eye.

"You and Temari are among the best friends I've ever had. I have always been lonely, not allowed to travel much since I was ten, and besides Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Sakura, you're the only friends I have had. If you are fighting for me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you are fighting to finally rid the world of the Akatsuki, I still thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said, and then I hugged him.

He hugged me back and said, "You're one of my best friends, too, Lady Ino."

"Please don't call me Lady Ino just because I've chosen to own up to who I am. You're a friend, just Ino will be fine," I said. He smiled and nodded. I wished that I could hug Gaara and that he would return it like Kankurou did. I wished that Gaara would say that I was one of his best friends.

"Will do, Ino," He said.

"I've almost forgot to tell you!" I said, feeling excitement burst inside me again as I remembered. "Gaara agreed to train me!"

Kankurou sighed with relief. "Thank the Lord. I was afraid you'd hound me again, and I knew I wouldn't be able to tell you no, and Gaara would be angry. He hates the idea of you fighting. He doesn't want to think of you in a situation where you would have to defend yourself."

"He said that?" I asked, hopeful.

"Not in so many words," Kankurou admitted. "Not in any words, actually. But, I know him. He's more open since his encounter with Lord Naruto, and I can tell that was why he was so angry."

Despite his assurance that was the reason behind Gaara's anger, I couldn't believe that really cared that much unless he expressed it specifically. Especially with the looks he's been giving me lately.

Not wanting to argue about it like I had done many times with Temari already, I asked, "Have you seen Temari? I need to reveal who I am to her as well."

He pointed me in the direction of our chambers and I rushed off once again. It seemed I had been doing a lot of chasing after people today. I found her sitting in the main room, pulling at some pins that were rubbing against her scalp.

She didn't say anything as I took a seat next to her, fixing me with an expectant stare. So I opened my mouth and just began to talk. I told her about how my father had kept me inside and prevented my travel since I was ten. I told her about how I longed to escape the castle and see the world. I left out the part where I stupidly allowed my capture. I told her about my time with the Akatsuki. I told her about how I escaped and nearly died from drowning, and how Gaara had saved me. She sat through it all, taking it all in and not saying a word.

When I stopped talking, I put rested my chin on my hand and waited for her response.

"I knew that you were royalty," Temari said. I smile slightly at the smug tone in her voice. Her eyes were tender when she said, "You've been through a lot."

Compared to Gaara's life it was nothing. Compared to Sasuke's life…compared to Naruto's life. It was hard to think my life was so tough when I looked at their lives. I went to say this to her, but when I opened my mouth, I said instead, "My father is dead, because of me."

I found that I couldn't look at her, and laid my head down on the table that we sat at. I felt her hand in my hair, running through the loose locks. I closed my eyes from comfort, and allowed her to ease my tension away.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Temari said. She hummed a little tune for a while before saying, "Gaara would understand your pain. He blames himself for his mother's death."

"Hm." I didn't really have the energy or the will power to attempt to stop her from going down this path. Temari seemed to sense this, and spared me by remaining silent. We sat there in quiet companionship, her stroking my hair while I listened to the maids going up and down the halls, until it was time for supper.

Megumi was the one who interrupted, approaching and saying, "Ladies, it is time for supper. Shall I fix your hair, quickly?"

While we sat still for her to tuck in any loose ends, I tried to keep my thoughts away from the sure to be tense supper.


	30. A Familiar Laugh

**Chapter 29: A Familiar Laugh  
**_(In which the Princess learns about flamingoes, begins training, roots for Neji and Tenten, and receives the most wonderful surprise)_

I was beginning to wonder if I should approach Gaara about the training when Megumi found me walking in the garden. She stopped next to the pond and waited for me to look at her.

"Yes, Megumi?" I asked, looking up from my perch on the bench. Odd looking pink birds dozed in a clump, standing on only one leg. The bits of bread that I had tried to feed them still floated on the surface.

"Lord Gaara sent me to summon you," Megumi answered. We both watched as a large colorful fish swallowed a bread crumb and then dove back under again. "He requests you to meet him at the stables."

"I was wondering when he would call for me," I said, standing up and wiping the rest of the bread crumbs from my skirts.

I joined Megumi and we began our walk back towards the stables. The mousy haired maid kept sending searching looks my way, and I waited for her to say something. Her sense of propriety seemed to be stronger than her curiosity, because she held her tongue.

"I wonder," I said, "if Gaara is calling me because he is finally following through with agreeing to train me."

Megumi smiled, looking down at her feet. "Your plan worked."

"No, Megumi, _your_ plan," I said. She seemed shocked, and perhaps a bit dismayed, so I added hastily, "I'm just commending you on the brilliance of your plan. I'm not going to blame you if anything goes wrong."

"Ah, well, thank you, Lady Ino. You are very gracious," Megumi said.

"Thank you." I said. We could see Gaara up ahead, leaning against the stable door. It took all my restraint not to skip joyously up to him and tackle him into a hug. I redirected my attention to the kind maid again. "Hey, Megumi?"

"Yes, milady?"

"What were those strange looking pink birds at the pond? With the ugly beaks?" I asked.

"They're called Flamingos," She answered.

"Flamingos," I tried the word out. It was as weird as the birds themselves. "They wouldn't eat my bread crumbs. The geese and swans back home always did."

"The fish really loved the bread crumbs, Lady Ino," She said.

"They did, huh." I said. We both fell silent as we reached the stables. Gaara gestured at me to follow him into the stable. I waved farewell to Megumi and raced in after him. "So, what're we going to do first? Sparring? Sword training?"

"No," Gaara said. A stable boy brought out Leiko and Gaara's mount from our last ride. "Horseback riding."

"What! But, I already know how to ride. You know, you saw me that one time…," I protested, a heavy feeling of disappointment weighing me down. This wasn't what I had expected when he said he would train me.

"You know the basics of riding. What any common person would know. If I'm training you to be able to defend yourself, then you will have to learn some new tricks," He said, swinging himself up into his saddle.

I waited for the stable boy to help me into mine, but Gaara dismissed him. "Uh, should I bring him over to the side of the stall…?" I asked, not quite sure what he expected me to do.

"Get up yourself."

My cheeks blazed red at the thought, "But-but, my skirt will hitch up and my ankles will show!" I covered my heated face with my hands. My ankles showing, in front of Gaara no less! How would I ever recover? He had already seen most of my back and stomach!

"I doubt you will be caring about whether your ankles show or not when the matter of your life is involved."

"I…, well, I can't even do it alone anyway. I was never taught. It's so improper!" I continued to protest. I don't want to do it. I won't do it. "I wo-…I'll try, I guess."

All my resolve to refuse melted away when Gaara fixed me with a look that I interpreted as, "Quit being spoiled."

I approached Leiko and placed one hand on the saddle horn. So far, I was doing a horrible job of proving myself capable of training. I had already thrown a fit, and we hadn't even started. Taking a deep breath, I counted down from ten in my head and tried to ignore the improperness of it all.

"You had better not look at my ankles," I warned as I attempted to heave myself up into the saddle. My hand slipped on the saddle horn and caught in Leiko's mane. He reared up, knocking me away from him, and cantered to the other side of the stable.

I looked to Gaara for guidance, but, when he didn't say anything, I made soft clicking noises with my tongue, coaxing the bay to return. Leiko snorted twice, but came nonetheless. I scratched behind his ears to show that I was sorry for spooking him.

Once he was calm, and I was calm as well, I tried again. I failed again. Leiko cantered further away this time, even though my hand didn't catch in his hair. He didn't seem to approve of clumsy girls who didn't know the first thing about mounting on their own.

"Try putting your foot in the stirrup first, and then pushing up and over," Gaara suggested finally. I nodded and called Leiko back again. I placed my foot into the stirrup and tried to jump gracefully into the saddle like Gaara had done. I went up, but not up enough and bumped into Leiko's side. He whinnied and tried to dance away from me, but my foot was still stuck in the stirrup and he dragged me along for several paces.

My skirt had ridden up all the way to my knees when I had finally loosed my foot. I pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to hold back the headache that was forming there from frustration.

After several more attempts, I managed to get up and over into the saddle. Leiko still danced a little at my ungraceful landing, but I had done it. I had gotten in the saddle all by myself. Though I suppose that wouldn't be considered much of an achievement by others, I was extremely proud of myself. Putting yourself in a saddle took more muscles than I would have estimated.

"It will become easier after practice," Gaara said. "You might even be able to figure out how to do it without showing your ankles too much."

"I think I will try to do that," I said. Then I glared at him and said, "You better not have looked at my ankles. Because if you did I'll-"

"I have already seen your ankles, Ino. It wouldn't matter if I saw them now," Gaara said.

"You what? When?" I demanded, for a split second imagining him sneaking into my tent while I was sleeping and peeking at my ankles.

"When I pulled you from the river. Your dress was ripped, and I saw your ankles along with most of your leg," Gaara said.

I groaned in embarrassment. "Good heavens, you've seen a great deal of me naked! There's little left for you to see now."

Gaara's face showed complete shock, and I was stuck somewhere between wild embarrassment and wondering if Gaara ever lost his composure enough to blush. He was silent as he lead his horse out of the stables. Still blushing myself, I directed Leiko to follow him.

It seemed that whenever Gaara didn't know what to say, he would just settle with saying nothing at all. That was dandy for him, but it left me in a tough spot at how to span that silence and recover face. I never knew what he thought of me.

"So, what new tricks am I learning?" I asked. Gaara looked at me, his face had resumed the perfect impassive mask, and went into explaining and showing me how to roll out of my saddle in case of emergency.

I was preparing for what had to be my twentieth roll (Gaara stressed that everything had to be practiced until I could do it perfectly, otherwise it would be useless for me to learn it in the first place. I just went along with anything he said because, well, because it's Gaara.) when Lady Tenten came running from the castle, holding up her skirts in her rush.

Gaara and I rode closer to her so she wouldn't have to run any further. She tried to tell us twice, but soon realized she was too out of breath to make any sense and waited until her breathing had regulated. Once she wasn't panting anymore she said, "Lady Hinata is giving birth. It's for real this time."

I didn't question her, executing a perfect roll off my horse and handing Leiko's reins to Gaara, and followed her back into the castle. During our mad dash towards Lady Hinata's chambers, I asked Tenten how she knew it was for real this time. She went into a small speech about dilating and inches, and I decided that I would rather have not known.

When we arrived at the chambers, we heard a pain filled moan followed by the sound of a baby crying. "We missed it," Lady Tenten said. "Though I don't really mind. I offered to retrieve you and Gaara because things like that make me queasy."

I nodded, glad that I wouldn't have to see something so intimate, but also a little curious. I knew bits and pieces of how birthing happened, but there were still many things I wondered about. I guess I will find out once I give birth, but the fact that there was a lot I didn't know about it made me scared and nervous at the thought. Perhaps I could just read a book on it, given that there was a book on it.

Lady Tenten knocked on the door and it opened up to show a tired Naruto. Over his shoulder I could see Lady Hinata holding a bundle of blankets. She looked tired as well, and sweaty, but content.

"You finally convinced them to let you stay, I see," I said, smiling at Lord Naruto.

"I told them I should be there with my wife, difficulties or no. She needs the support, and I wanted to be first to hold my son," Naruto said, beaming.

"Another son? Poor Hinata," Tenten said, shaking her head. "Every woman secretly wants a daughter of her own."

"We still have plenty of years ahead of us for daughters," Lord Naruto said, sending a sappy look over his shoulder at his wife who blushed in embarrassment. Tenten and I shared amused expressions.

"I bet your son took so long because he didn't want his father to miss his big day," I said.

Lord Naruto suddenly looked even more tired, which I wouldn't have thought possible, but there it was. He sank into a chair beside Hinata and stroked her hair. "I'm just glad everything went well."

"Me too," Sakura said. Her pink hair was pulled back, and she was wearing a dirty apron. I didn't see a midwife, and it dawned on me that Sakura had delivered the baby. I was surprised to say the least. Lady Hanabi and a brown haired girl I didn't recognize were in the room as well.

"Where's Temari?" I asked.

"She went to go get Lord Kankurou, Lord Sasuke, Lord Kiba, and Lord Neji. They all went out on a ride together," Sakura said. "Which reminds me that no one went to go get Lord Lee. He just arrived this morning."

Hanabi offered to go and the brown haired girl went with her, clinging to her sleeve and talking her ear off as they left.

Gaara appeared not too long after, and just watched on as us women folk gathered around the bed to coo at the baby and wait our turn to hold him. He had a head of black hair just like his mother, and beautiful blue eyes. Sakura informed me that all babies have blue eyes when they're born, so there was still a chance they would change. It was also common for hair colors to change, though most often it was blonde changing to a darker color than the other way. I wondered if any of Naruto's children would inherit his blonde hair.

When Hanabi and her brunette friend returned with Lord Lee, the other men had already arrived, and the room was full and noisy. Despite all the noise, the unknown girl's voice cut through, high pitched and interrupting mine and Kankurou's conversation, "Gaara! Kankurou!"

Kankurou stood up quickly, "Lady Matsuri! When did you get here?"

"I just arrived this morning, with Lee. I was visiting them, he's married Lady Sasame not too long ago," Matsuri said. Then she pushed through the crowd and embraced Kankurou, Temari, and Gaara in turn. I couldn't help but notice that Gaara didn't push her away like he'd been doing to me lately.

"You must be Lady Ino?" She said to me, seeing me standing next to Gaara and Kankurou. "Temari was telling me about you this morning. I think I'll be sitting by you at dinner, won't that be great?"

"Yeah," I said, but I didn't really mean it. I didn't want to sit next to the girl with stupid hair. I barely knew her and I was already annoyed about how cheerful and bold she was. Calling everyone just Gaara, Kankurou, and Naruto, with no effort of using titles. It was rude.

"What're you naming this beautiful little bundle of joy?" the guy who must be Lord Lee said, holding the boy and looking generally excited. Everyone fell quiet and looked back at Lady Hinata, suddenly realizing that, in all their relief and happiness that the baby and the mom had made it through the birth, the name had never been mentioned.

Lady Hinata looked at Lord Naruto. "I was thinking Keitaro," She said, her voice even softer than normal from being the center of attention, "Blessed."

Lord Naruto broke out in grin and showered the two in kisses, and someone said, "Keitaro, I like it. It's cute."

The rest of the week passed the same way. People kept arriving out of seemingly nowhere, and the table arrangement kept changing. Gaara continued to train me, sticking stubbornly to defense. Sure we did sword training, but only guards and blocks.

It turned out that my training time with Gaara was the only peaceful, alone time I had with him. Whenever I sought out Kankurou, Temari, or Gaara, I would always find that Matsuri had found them first. She had been placed in our chambers, and was an annoying presence I couldn't shake.

Worse off, everyone seemed to like her, so I couldn't even complain about her to anyone. When I had said something about her boldness, Temari laughed and said that she seemed to be a lot like me. Insulted, I didn't try again.

Avoiding her, I found myself spending more time with Tenten, Lee, and Neji. They seemed to be close friends. Lee was a funny character, often exclaiming about how beautiful and youthful things were. He exclaimed the most about his wife, Lady Sasame, who had to stay back and keep charge of the castle.

Every day I noticed how Tenten and Neji seemed made for each other. On several occasions I saw that he would predict what she wanted and get it for her without a word. Whenever I mentioned this to him, he would deny it and say he was only returning the good favor. I hardly listened to his protests, too busy wondering when I would be invited to the wedding.

I really enjoyed Tenten's company. She was sweet, sensible, humorous, and just enjoyable to be around. I was walking towards the eating hall for lunch with her when I heard a familiar booming laugh.

I froze. Tenten stopped and regarded me with a curious look. I heard the laugh again. There was no mistaking it. But, how was it possible? I must be going crazy. "Did you hear that laugh, Tenten? Am I just imagining it?"

"No, I hear it, too," She said.

I grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit, "Are you sure? You hear a booming and obnoxious laugh coming from that room?"

Her expression told me she thought I had lost it. She nodded. I let her go, feeling tears gathering at my eyes. I was scared to believe it. I resumed walking towards the dinning hall, forcing myself not to get my hopes up.

I was able to successfully keep my hopes from getting dangerously high until I heard that laugh again. Dammit, what was so funny? I couldn't restrain myself any longer and took off running. I rounded the corner and…

There he was. Sitting in a chair, that was Sasuke's last night, Sakura's the night before, and mine the night before that. My whole body was shaking, and I wondered again if it was real.

He hadn't seen me yet, too busy laughing at one of Kankurou's jokes. I ran across the room, pushing roughly past people and jumping over chairs not pushed in. "Father! Father!"

He looked up. "Ino! My little princess!"

I jumped at him, hugging him fiercely and almost knocking him from his chair. Tears were running down my cheeks in steady streams by then and I found that I couldn't loosen my grip around him.

"You were dead! I thought you were dead! Deidara killed you!" I sobbed into his tunic.

I was aware of the room becoming awkwardly silent, and my father running his fingers through my hair and assuring me that he was very much alive and in pain from my tight grip.

After several minutes, I was able to convince my arms to let go, and I returned to my own seat. Throughout the rest of the meal, I cried on and off and kept glancing at my father. I was so afraid that he would disappear, having just been a figment of my imagination. He was diligently still there each time.

Later, we walked through the castle halls, and I interrogated him about what he had been up to since I had gone missing.

"Deidara told me that he killed you, and he showed me this," I said, holding up the ring that belonged to him.

"I gave that to Lord Shibi, to show him my loyalty in the match between you and Shino when you went missing. That was the only way I could get him to join in the war. He wanted the union, but he was reluctant to enter fighting. His siblings had died in war, and he hated to lose any more," He said.

"But, Lord Kiba told me that he was coming here to recruit Lord Naruto to join the alliance and replace a Lord who died. I was sure it was you, after what Deidara told me," I said.

"That, once again, was Lord Shibi," He said.

I was, at the same time, immensely happy that it hadn't been my father and immensely sad that Shino's father had died instead. I didn't possess any feelings for Shino and thought him incredibly boring, but no one deserved the death of a father. He was a good man, too.

"I love you so much," I said, hugging him for what had to be the millionth time.

"I love you, too, Ino. I'm so sorry that I brought you so much pain," He said.

And, despite the fact that Matsuri was stealing all my friends' time from me, that Gaara was still acting distant towards me, and that I owed Kiba an apology and explanation for my behavior, I was so happy I thought my heart would burst.


	31. Falling in More Than One Way

**Chapter 30: Falling in More Than One Way  
**_(In which the Princess trains some more and discovers that she likes the smell of soap and leather)  
_**Note: Did anyone notice that this story had exactly 123 reviews? Isn't that awesome?...though, I'm not discouraging reviews.**

I sighed and swung my legs while I waited for Gaara, perched on the stable door of Leiko's stall. The stallion was in the opposite corner of the stall busily eating straw and ignoring my calls to him. "Well, if you want to be stubborn like that, then go ahead. Don't expect any treats from me," I said, smiling when I saw his ears turn towards me. He might be facing away from me, but he was listening. Listening as much as a horse could, anyway.

"I wonder what's taking Gaara so long," I wondered aloud, pulling at the slivers sticking up from the wood of the door. "He's never usually this late. But, I'm not even upset. You want to know why?"

I paused, giving the horse a chance to respond, but he merely flicked his tail and continued eating. "I can see that you're dying to know, so I'll tell you. It turns out, my father isn't dead after all. Deidara is just scum and lied to me."

I tried calling Leiko to me again. He stopped eating and looked up at me, but decided I wasn't worth his effort and went back to his straw. Tired of being ignored, I slid off the gate and went to him. "You're rude, you know that? Do you even care that I'm not an orphan anymore? I'm so happy, Leiko, you wouldn't believe it. I'll do my best to explain the depths of my happiness by using examples."

Leiko nickered and searched my pockets for treats. "Whoa, boy. I told you no treats, remember? I can be stubborn, too. So please don't interrupt unless it's relevant. Anyways, here's a good example. I'm so happy that I would run through the castle naked. Does that shock you, Leiko?" I ran my fingers through his mane, pulling at any of the tangles and burrs. "Or, I'm so happy that I would willingly swim in the ocean. And, I'm afraid of the water, remember? I'm so happy that I could be stuck in a room with Matsuri for a whole month and still have happy left over. Actually, I don't know if any amount of happiness could extend that far…"

I laughed at my own joke and startled him. I laughed harder at his reaction, and if Leiko was a person, he probably would have thought me crazy. As it was, he grew tired of my loud presence and crossed the stall to get away from me. I pouted, but then saw Gaara standing by the stall door.

"Gaara! I was wondering if you were going to ever show up! I – wait…how long were you standing there?" I asked, going over to him.

"Long enough," he said, something close to a smirk on his face.

I laughed again and climbed out of the stall, "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Jumping," Gaara said, motioning to the stable hand who just walked in to prepare the horses. The boy tucked something away into a pocket and started on Gaara's mount first.

I sighed, "Again? I don't like jumping, couldn't we do something else?"

"No."

I sighed again. When I told Tenten that I didn't like jumping she had gaped at me and sounded like Lord Lee spouting poetic things about how 'jumping is the closest thing to flying' and 'the adrenaline that pumps through your veins is amazing'. When I was jumping, all I could think about was how I had absolutely no control over my fate once Leiko's hooves left the ground and the million ways I could die if even one small thing went wrong.

"But, I think we should work on something else that's more important, like sword defense," I suggested, not wanting to give up.

"No," he said again and then mounted. "The course is already set up."

The stable hand had a strange expression on his face as he handed Leiko's reins to me, but I ignored it thinking that he was probably shocked at how easily I was talking to the terrifying Gaara. Sometimes I shocked myself at how well I was able to speak to him, especially when I remembered when I first met him and how intimidating I thought he was.

I mounted Leiko and followed Gaara as he led the way to the course he set up.

"I decided I'm not embarrassed," I said.

"Hm?"

"Getting caught talking to my horse…I'm not embarrassed, because lots of people do that. When my father goes to battle, he goes to his horse and explains the battle plan to him. We all know they don't understand, but it puts him at ease and it's a ritual of sorts," I said.

"What if a spy was waiting in the stables and overheard his plan?" Gaara asked.

I was speechless for a moment as I struggled to find a response. "Uh, well…I doubt a spy would slip into the royal stables. They are heavily guarded."

"Huh," Gaara said. He didn't argue with me, but there was an implied doubt.

"They are! It would be extremely difficult to just sneak in," I said.

"Where were you when you were kidnapped?" Gaara asked.

I frowned at him. "I was close to the castle, but that was different. They were straight out attacking us, not scouting for information."

We arrived at the open field Gaara had prepared for the lesson and the conversation ended as I took it in.

There were actually two courses set up, one that looked like the one I learned on. The second one made me nervous. The jumps seemed rather close together and a couple of them were higher then I had ever jumped before.

"Don't tell me I'm going on that one," I said, pointing at the course and praying that he would say no, it was someone else's course.

"Not at first. You're going to practice on this one and then move on to that one," Gaara said.

"What if I'm not ready?" I asked, trying to ignore the turning sensation in my gut.

"You will be. I did the course and I'm certain you'll be fine," Gaara said.

I didn't want to seem too hesitant and weak, so I did my best to swallow my fear and moved to the starting point. I glanced at Gaara and he nodded, urging me to go. I directed Leiko to go and tried not to think about how easily I could die if his hoof happened to slip on a rock, or if he jumped too late, instead focusing on each jump.

Leiko didn't seem to be afraid at all, and went through the whole course fluidly, covering over the mistakes I made. Once I had signaled to jump too soon, but he knew better and jumped at the right time.

I finished the course with a triumphant smile, but Gaara had an eagle's eyes and briefly reprimanded me on my mistakes and sent me again. I went again and tried to fix them the way he had shown me.

I went over the course for what had to have been a hundred times, each time new problems seemed to crop up or I would have solved one and an old one would reappear. When I had finally completed the course satisfactorily, Gaara called me over.

"Are we done for the day?" I asked, dreading the second course despite my previous success. I was confident, not suicidal.

"Ino."

"Mmm, I know, I still have to do the other one," I said.

"Are you afraid?" Gaara asked, a challenge in his eyes. I was afraid. What was it with Gaara and finding the things that scared me and pushing me to do them? He knew that I was afraid and he was testing me and my strength. If I couldn't do this, I might as well just stick to the castle and rely on others to protect me.

"Of course not!" I said, accepting the challenge. "I just was being sensitive to what other engagements you might have."

"I'm not needed until after dinner," Gaara said. "You have plenty of time to perfect this course."

"Aah, that's great," I said. "I won't need all that time, however. Give me one try, and we will be done here."

I moved to the starting point of the second course and paused to gather up all my courage and to go over all the pointers Gaara had given me. It was exceedingly difficult to hold the reins steady in my quaking hands.

With a deep breath I pressed my heels into Leiko's sides and we were off. The course wasn't as bad as it seemed, and after successfully clearing the first few jumps, I felt my nervousness melt away. I was Ino, I could do anything I put my mind to! And, right now I was going to impress Gaara!

The last jump was the largest. Leiko began to gather himself for the leap and I prepared to direct it when there was a bright flash from the wooded area not too far off on the right. Leiko startled and stumbled in his take off, his motion taking him down and sideways. I was terrified that I would be smashed underneath him and tried to roll out of the stirrups like Gaara had taught me.

Everything was happening too fast, though, and I half tumbled away from Leiko and his falling body, landing hard on my elbow. A sharp pain jolted up my arm and I clenched my teeth together to keep from crying out.

Leiko was up again, hovering over me and nibbling at my hair. "I can't move my arm," I sobbed. "It won't move."

"Let me see." I looked up to see Gaara. He crouched beside me and reached for my arm. I pulled away, knowing that it would hurt when he poked it.

"I can't move it, Gaara! My arm won't move," I told him, trying to ignore the searing pain.

"Shh," he said, "let me see it. I'll be careful."

He reached for my arm, and this time I didn't pull away, allowing him to gently probe the swelling joint. I looked up at his face – his expression was so determined – and realized how close he was to me. He smelled nice, like soap and new leather. It was an odd combination, but it seemed to work for him.

"It doesn't appear to be broken. Does it feel numb?" he asked, bringing my attention back to my elbow that was far from being numb.

"Ah, no. It's painful," I said, "Like, a severe burning pain."

"I'll bring you back to see Lady Sakura," Gaara said. He paused and a strange look flitted across his face. "…this would be a time to comfort…right?"

I was confused until he hugged me like I had shown him how to a long time ago, when I was teaching him how to comfort someone. If it hadn't been for the pulsating ache in my arm, it would've been perfect.

Then, after quickly checking Leiko for injuries and finding none, he helped me into the saddle. He took the reins and led us back to the castle. I had to admit that I was a little disappointed. Didn't Gaara know that he was supposed to carry me on the front of his horse and stroke my hair to distract me from the pain?

We searched a full ten minutes for Sakura before we managed to run into her as she was leaving Lady Hinata's chambers. She looked at me and my elbow and asked, "What happened?" automatically going into nurse mode.

It was fascinating to see. Sakura was so professional and sure of herself, and I couldn't help but feel like she was winning the rivalry we had started when she had visited that month long ago.

"I was practicing horse jumping when a flash of light startled my horse and I fell," I said.

"I checked to see if it's broken, I don't think it is," Gaara supplied.

Sakura nodded and ushered us up the hallway to her room. I noticed that she had her own apartments while I was stuck sharing with Temari and Matsuri. Not that I minded Temari, but I could definitely do without Matsuri being constantly in my hair.

Gaara stayed long enough to hear the diagnosis – a dislocated elbow – and what Sakura was going to do about it. When I saw he was leaving I said, "Gaara, where are you going?...I thought you didn't have to be anywhere until after supper…"

"I'm getting Temari," he said quietly, and then left. I suppressed a sigh and leaned back in my bed. He could have sent a servant after Temari and stayed, but he seemed to not like to be in my presence when we weren't training.

Sakura gazed at me imploringly and then said, "You love him, don't you?"

I sputtered in surprise and then groaned, "Not you, too! Temari already brings it up twenty times a day. I don't love him! I just respect him…he's saved my life at least four times by now. I'm indebted to him."

She gave me a doubtful look, "Mm, if you say so."

"Okay," I said and she was all ears, "Maybe I am. But, it's set up for heartbreak. It's unrequited. And, on top of that, I'm already engaged. My father's promised me to Lord Shino."

"What makes you think that he doesn't love you back?" Sakura asked, preparing for the procedure. Evidently, she's going to drug me and then force my elbow back to its rightful place. It sounded painful, and I didn't really want to think about it.

"Have you seen the way he treats me, lately?" I asked.

"He seemed to care a great deal about your well-being," Sakura said.

"Just then, but mostly he's cold to me. I don't know what I did, but lately he won't talk to me much and pushes me away a lot," I said. It felt good to confide in Sakura – these feelings had been weighing me down for so long and it wasn't like I could talk to Temari about it.

"It could be because of your connection with Sasuke. They don't have the best history, you know?" Sakura suggested.

"I thought so, too. When I asked him about it, he made it seem like it was Sasuke was the only one continuing to hold a grudge," I said, shaking my head. "I also thought that it might be because I convinced Kankurou to train me against his orders. But, Gaara's training me now."

"Wait!" Sakura said suddenly, looking up from the drugs she was mixing. "Did he start acting like that after Sasuke and I brought you back?"

"…yes."

She tucked a pink lock behind her ear and moved closer to my bed. "Ino, I think I know why. Not too long after we brought you back, I overheard two maids talking about how you were alone with Sasuke in his chambers for a long time after you returned. They also mentioned rumors that you were already engaged and figured that you must be engaged to Sasuke. Gaara overheard them, too. He was the one who told them to quit gossiping and sent them scattering," she explained.

I sat up quickly, ignoring the jolt in my elbow. "What! That explains everything! I have to set him straight I'm not en…engaged to Sasuke," I said, my excitement at realizing the problem deflating when I remembered that the rumor was partly true.

"You're not?" Sakura confirmed, fixing me with a steady glare.

I waved my hands, "No, but the rumor is half true. I told you already, remember? My father has promised me to Lord Shino."

Sakura fell oddly silent as she returned to the drug mixture, throwing what she had completely out and restarting. I tried not to think about how painful relocating my elbow would be and how painful my elbow was now. I wanted to ask her if I would be effected long term afterward, but I didn't want to bother her while she was mixing the drug that would be important in keeping me safe. When she was finished, she came back to the bedside and said, "Lean back. This stuff should knock you out for an hour."

I felt like I was floating over my body on the bed for a few dizzy seconds before I went into complete darkness.

I woke up to see Temari sitting beside my bed. "Temari!" I shouted.

She grinned. "You've been talking in your sleep."

"Don't tease me," I warned, pushing myself up and glad to find that mobility had returned to my arm.

"I tease not," Temari said, her grin growing wider by the second. "You kept saying things like, 'but I'm not married to Sasuke' and 'you smell really good, like leather and soap'. You also kept asking people to give Leiko some treats."

"Hm, nonsense babbling," I said.

"You know who smells like leather and soap?" Temari asked with raised eyebrows.

"Half the men in the world?" I guessed.

"Ha, very funny," Temari said. "How does your elbow feel?"

"Good! I can move it again! It's a little tender, though," I said.

"Sakura told me to let you know that you aren't to move around too much," Temari said.

"I won't, I won't," I said, relaxing back into the bed.

For now, I would put away my worries about the upcoming war and my engagement and focused on happier things like my father not being dead, being healthy after the jumping incident, and having good friends like Sakura, Temari, and Gaara to look after me.


	32. Annoying Habits

**Chapter 31: Annoying Habits  
**_(In which the Princess gets briefly trapped, discovers something not very good about a friend, and has to say goodbye to Gaara)_

The flamingos were noisy today.

I sat on the bench and watched them as they honked and shrieked and ran wildly around the small garden pond. It was highly amusing.

"What do you eat?" I asked one of the flamingos who had wondered close. It tilted its head to the side briefly before squawking loudly and running away, beating its wings.

The flamingos weren't very friendly today.

To be honest, I was bored. All the men were busy lately, engaging in seemingly endless meetings. I wish I had more time to talk to my father…to train with Gaara…or to hear Kankurou's stories. But, I supposed that I shouldn't complain, since I was a major factor in the war being started.

Tenten was providing company for Lady Hinata and Keitaro. I would have gone with her, but I always felt like an annoying extra. They had known each other for a long time and were close friends, on account of living in such a close radius, and I didn't want to intrude. The last thing I wanted to be was like Matsuri.

"Lady Ino! Hey, Lady Ino!"

Speaking of the devil…

"Hey, Lady Ino! Didn't you hear me? I've been calling for you for a very long time," Matsuri said.

"I'm sorry, I was deep in thought…Is there something you need?" _Or are you just searching for new ways to pester me?_

"Come quick! Lady Sakura's in trouble!" Matsuri yelled.

I jumped to my feet, "Where? Take me to her!"

We ran back up the path and through the castle. Matsuri must have come and got me first, because the servants weren't bustling like they ought to have been. If I wasn't so focused on returning Sakura's favor, I would have stopped and given those servants a piece of my mind.

She led me down a hallway I hadn't been down but a couple times and indicated the first door on the left. I opened the door apprehensively, trying to prepare myself for whatever was waiting on the other side. Was she bleeding to death? I hoped not. Blood made me queasy…

It was a closet. The door opened up to a small closet, filled with cleaning supplies and cobwebs. It seemed relatively untouched. I turned to ask Matsuri where Sakura was and saw her locking the door behind her.

"What're you doing?" I demanded, backing up so that my back was to the wall and grabbing a broom. Sure, my recently injured elbow would slow me down, but I felt better with something in my hands.

The brunette narrowed her eyes at me. "I know what you're up to, Ino."

"Even if you brutally murder me right now, in this closet, you still don't have the right to drop my honorific. You will call me Lady Ino, and nothing else. I'm not your friend," I said through clenched teeth, anger pushing away any sense of fear.

She was angry, too. I had never seen her angry before. Her eyes were blazing with hate and her body was tense, anticipating action.

"I know what you're up to, I-no," Matsuri repeated, emphasizing her disrespect.

My grip tightened on the broom handle, "And, what exactly am I up to?"

"I overheard about your meeting. I won't let you kill her," she said.

I opened my mouth to retort angrily, when I realized that her words made absolutely no sense. "Eh, what?"

"Don't play coy with me. The only way you'll lay a finger over her is over my dead body," she growled, grabbing her own weapon of choice, a mop.

"As attractive as that sounds at the moment, I have no idea what you're talking about? Who is this 'her' you're talking about? Lady Sakura? Why would I kill her? She just healed me, and she's my friend," I said.

"Sakura? No, Sakura's your accomplice!" Matsuri said, "You and Sakura have a secret plan to assassinate Lady Temari!"

I nearly dropped the broom handle in surprise, "What! Where would you get such a farfetched idea? I like Temari even more than I like Lady Sakura."

"I heard it with my own two ears, Ino! Don't try to trick me," Matsuri said, shaking her head side to side as if trying to keep my words from reaching her ears.

I was tempted to hit her over the head out of my annoyance, but somehow resisted. Instead, I took a deep breath and asked, "Over heard what?"

"I passed by Sakura's room on my way to visit Lady Hinata in her chambers when I overheard a heated argument between Sakura and one of her servants. The servant was saying something about her master not being too happy that their target wasn't dead.

"Sakura replied that she didn't have the time to talk about it at the moment. The servant was angry and they argued about whether or not they should discuss it right then or plan a meeting later. They ended up planning a meeting for a later date," Matsuri said, "And, you know who the servant was? Haya. One of the servants that attend you."

I slid down the dusty wall, overcome with the surprise. Matsuri thought I was planning to murder Temari because of a conversation she overhead between _Haya_ and _Sakura_! What business did Sakura have killing anyone? And, who was Haya's master?

"Lady Matsuri," I said, taking a deep breath and looking up at her. She was regarding me with a wary expression, her eyes still hot with anger. "I can see how you jumped to this conclusion, but consider this: Why would I murder the sister of the man who saved my life? Temari has taken care of me and we've become close friends. I would never consider harming her."

Matsuri's eyes lost their hardness, "But…Haya…"

"…Is supposed to be part of Lady Hinata's staff. I didn't bring any servants with me, I wasn't exactly in the position to," I said. "You should know how close Temari and I are, you share chambers with us."

"Then, why did you get so angry when I cornered you? You said I wasn't your friend," she asked, deflating into confusion.

"I thought you were going to kill me!" I responded, grateful that she believed me and no longer appeared murderous.

We both lowered our weapons and then…began laughing.

It was a rather funny situation, both of us locked in a dusty old closet, preparing to attack each other with cleaning supplies.

We kept laughing till we were weak in the knees and Matsuri went to unlock the door. The lightness in my belly sunk into dread. "Uh…"

"We're locked in."

.o0o.

"Hey…Lady Ino," Matsuri ventured as we strode down the hallway. After banging on the door for what had to be thirty minutes, we had been rescued by a cross servant who wasn't too amused at finding us in the closet. He hadn't said anything, but the disproving looks he shot our way were enough to send us hurrying away like children who had just been caught playing in their father's study.

"Yeah?" My curiosity piqued at her uncharacteristic hesitance.

"…When you're not thinking that I'm going to kill you…do you consider me your friend?" she asked, fixing her gaze on the floor.

I balked at answering, forcing myself to decide which was the lesser evil: lying to her, or hurting her feelings.

"Of course!" I lied, after a minute's worth of struggling. "You can even call me just Ino if you want."

"Really?" Matsuri said, her eyes lifting to my face in joy. I tried to appear as honest as possible. Giddy, she said, "You can call me just Matsuri, too!"

There was a small pause of silence as we both considered our newfound friendship. Matsuri genuinely cared about Temari and was loyal enough as a friend to confront someone who appeared to have wanted to harm her. Despite how annoying she was, she was good friend material.

"Did you hear when they planned to meet?" I asked in a hushed tone.

Matsuri nodded and leaned closer, "They decided on midnight a week from today."

"Why so far away?" I said.

"I don't know," she said. "We should talk about what to do tonight…"

"Hey, what're you two whispering about?" We both looked up sharply and saw Kankurou and Naruto. There were several black soot spots in Kankurou's hair and I wondered if he knew. Judging by Naruto's smirk and subtle shake of his head, I hazarded a guess that he did not.

"We were planning a party tonight, that didn't involve you," I said, grinning.

Kankurou mocked disappointment, "You know it wouldn't be much of a party without me."

"If you say so," I said, laughing at his pout. I saw Gaara further down the hallway and excused myself, "I'll see you all at dinner. I'm going to go ask Gaara about my training."

Giving Matsuri one last significant glance, letting her know that we would talk more later, I jogged to catch up with Gaara. He slowed when he saw me.

"How was the meeting?" I asked him. He had already lost most of the color he had gained from our voyage, even though we had been outside frequently for my training.

"Long," Gaara answered, rubbing his temples and looking grim.

"Did you decide on anything?"

"War," Gaara said with a nod, "Lord Naruto is joining the alliance and we are beginning preparations."

"Is everyone leaving, then?" I asked.

"Yes."

"When are we leaving?"

Gaara glanced at me quickly before focusing on his carpeted path, "I'm leaving tomorrow. You're leaving with your father at the end of the week."

"Oh," I said, realizing for the first time that I would have to return home eventually. Without Gaara. What if this was my last time seeing him? What if got married, or avoided seeing me, or, even worse, died in the war? "I heard a rumor going around recently."

"Hm?"

"A rumor that I was engaged to Lord Sasuke to marry," I said. We slowed to a stop, outside of the library.

Gaara opened the door and let me pass through first. He didn't ask me to elaborate, but I continued anyway, "It isn't true, though. Lord Sasuke and I are childhood friends, and that's where our relationship ends. I'm letting everyone know, so the rumor can die down."

"You're not engaged?" Gaara asked, his back to me as he skimmed through the titles lining the bookshelf.

I knew that I ought to tell him about the situation with Lord Shino, but I still held hope that I would be able to slide out of that promise. So I said, "I'm not engaged to Lord Sasuke, that's right."

There was a silence. Gaara pulled out a book and flipped to the first page, his eyes passing over the words quickly. He put it back and repeated the same process with several other books.

Meanwhile, I was working on building up my courage. I knew that this could possibly be my last chance to confess to him. I couldn't live the rest of my life knowing that I had let this opportunity slip away. I figured this must really be love, otherwise I wouldn't be so frightened. I'd never been so nervous to talk ever before in my life.

"I'm going to miss you," I said. Gaara's hand froze and he turned to me, staring imploringly. "Are you going to miss me, too? If so, this would be a good time to say so."

"Yes," he said after a minute. He turned his attention back to selecting a book.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, I'll miss you."

Gaara finally picked a book, it was about battle strategies, and I followed him over to the table. I watched him as he settled into his chair, noting the way his hair fell to the side and exposed his tattoo. It was an interesting placement, right over his eye, but his hair covered it most of the time.

He began reading and I, not wanting to sit there and stare at him like a creepy idiot, began writing my name in loopy cursive and sketching flowers on the paper Sasuke had left behind.

I had nearly filled the paper with forget-me-nots and cosmos and other similar flowers when I had courage enough to speak again. I set my quill down and said, "I never really got the chance to formally thank you."

Gaara put his book down, showing me that I had his attention, so I went on, "You've saved me so many times, I don't think I'll ever be able to fully repay you. I'll do my best though. You can visit us at the castle, and we'll hold a feast in your honor and…"

"You don't need to repay me," he interrupted.

"But I want to," I said, moving closer to him. "And even if you refuse to be repaid, I hope you will still visit."

He gazed at me imploringly again, before saying, "I will visit."

"Often?" I asked softly, suddenly realizing that there was only a hand span separating our faces.

"Often," he promised.

I smiled and closed the distance. His lips were chapped and rough, but warm against mine. I didn't know what to do with my arms, so I just let them hang at my sides. I was initially worried that he would pull back and reject me, but he didn't. Not right away, that is.

When he did pull back, we were both panting slightly and I could feel my face heating up with warmth from the kiss and embarrassment. The soft look in his eyes only caused my blush to deepen and I buried my face in my hands.

"When do you leave tomorrow?" I asked once I had recovered.

"Early morning – before breakfast," he answered.

"I won't know what to do without you all here."

"Stay safe?"

I laughed and was considering stealing another kiss from him when the door opened and Sasuke appeared in the library.

"You drew all over my parchment," he said, pointing at the incriminating signatures of my name.

"So I did," I said. "You shouldn't have left it just lying about if you were still going to use it."

"You shouldn't use things that aren't yours," Sasuke said. "But, I didn't come here to take notes. I need to talk with Gaara."

My first impression was that he was through withholding his anger and was going to act on it. Sasuke seemed to read my line of thought because he added, "About strategy."

I nodded and stood up, not willing to stay to feel awkward as they discussed things that were completely beyond my understanding. "See you at dinner, I guess," I called over my shoulder as I left.

.o0o.

Gaara didn't appear at dinnertime. When I asked about him, Sasuke said that he had decided to leave early. Out of the three, Temari had stayed behind, and I was grateful to still have one of them with me.

He was gone, just like the last time I had kissed him.

I hoped this wasn't going to become a habit.


	33. A Child Again, if Only for a Day

**Chapter 32: A Child Again, If Only For a Day  
**_(In which the Princess gets in a fight, gets sand in her hair, and cries on the beach, but has a great day nonetheless)_

The castle seemed so empty without Gaara and Kankurou.

After they left, the number of visitors slowly dwindled into the single digits. Kiba returned to his Kingdom the day after Gaara and Kankurou and I had never found the chance to apologize to him. Tenten had departed with Lee early yesterday morning. Soon, the only people who remained were Neji, Sasuke, Sakura, Hanabi, Matsuri, Temari, my father, and me.

The unlikely friendship that developed between Matsuri, perhaps the most annoying person in the world and my biggest rival, and I was strange. Sometimes I felt that we were the closest friends with an unending list of things in common, and other times, she would be this hovering presence that I wanted to escape.

It was easier to bear her antics and fondness for Gaara when I remembered the kiss in the library. In the mornings, I would often wake up with a hand to my lips, remembering the roughness and warmth of his. Why had I waited so long to kiss him? There had been so many opportunities, but now he was gone. And, I was feeling his absence greatly.

Without Gaara's training or Kankurou's stories to fill up my days, I alternated between tolerating Matsuri, following Temari, and renewing my friendship with Sasuke.

Sasuke. Now, that was a tricky subject. We'd been friends at such a young age, and had been conditioned to the idea of marriage between us. It's hard to believe that at the age of nine I had been certain of my future with him. Several years, a few murders, and a kidnap later, it was impossible to imagine.

With everyone gone, Matsuri and I had no distractions from the fact that there was possibly a murder conspiracy. I felt a strange anticipation towards the upcoming meeting, a curiosity that demanded to be sated, yet I was afraid of what I would discover.

"What would Lady Sakura want to kill Lady Temari for anyway?" Matsuri asked. We were enjoying the mild winter climate of the Southern Kingdom of Osaka. Back North, there was surely a two foot blanket of snow. I certainly wasn't looking forward to returning to the harsh cold.

"I haven't the faintest idea. I'm not sure I even fully believe it yet," I said, reclining on the grass beneath the orange tree.

"I hope you're not insinuating you don't believe me. I heard them talking, there was no mistake," Matsuri insisted.

"Hm. I'm not calling you a liar, I just know I won't be able to believe until I hear it with my own ears. It's hard to accept the idea that one of your friends is not who she seems," I said. "Then you have to look around at everyone else and wonder what they may be hiding. Say, what if you're really a professional killer? What if Kankurou is secretly a spy?"

"Kankurou's too stupid to be a spy," Matsuri said with a loud laugh. I laughed, too, and the conversation naturally changed into a less serious direction.

We were discussing, of all things, sewing patterns when Sasuke appeared in front of us. I had never noticed how tall he'd grown until then, his head nearly touching one of the lower branches. He reached up and easily plucked an orange that was a good foot out of my range.

"Do ladies always talk about such boring things?" Sasuke asked, starting to peel the orange.

"I'm afraid so," I said. "It's tragic, really. We even bore ourselves."

"Maybe you should read more. Then you'd have something to speak about," Sasuke said.

"It's hard to believe, but some men think that women shouldn't read," I said.

"When have you been one to just sit back and do what you're expected?" Sasuke flicked an orange peel at me. It landed on my boot and I didn't bother to shake it off, instead staring at it while I talked.

"Never. And, I hope to never be. I don't want to be a fixture, something that belongs in the house or on the arm of some man. I want to travel the world and be strong and be myself and be free. I want to be notable. I want to be remembered," I said.

Matsuri seemed startled, "Are you saying you don't want to marry?"

"Of course not," I said. "I just don't want to be defined by my marriage."

Sasuke cleared his throat, and I looked away from the orange peel and up at him. He was wearing a smug smirk, "I think you're impossible to be defined."

"Is that an insult or a compliment?" I asked.

He shrugged, "However you want to take it."

"Well, coming from you, it's probably an insult."

"I have no idea why you nearly always assume the worst from me," Sasuke said, his face still smug, "but you probably should defend your honor if that's the case."

"How would she do that?" Matsuri asked.

"By sparring with me," Sasuke said.

I was surprised, "What?"

"You've been training with Lord Gaara, right?"

"Yes."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem," Sasuke said, taking a large bite from his orange.

"I suppose," I said, standing up and brushing off my skirt.

Matsuri turned to me with an anxious expression after Sasuke left to retrieve swords. "Do you think this is proper?" she asked.

"Nothing I do seems to be proper. Everyone should be long used to it by now," I answered lightly, hoping to hide my own anxiety. What would fighting Sasuke be like? With Gaara it had always been instructional. What would it mean to fight Sasuke?

When Sasuke returned, he was holding two wooden swords. I was immensely relieved, though I guess it was irrational to think he'd bring real swords. That was far too dangerous.

Matsuri made a large circle in the dirt with a slippered foot, and we took places on either side. Sasuke bowed deeply before readying his sword. I did the same. Matsuri counted down and initiated the fight.

We circled several times, waiting for the other to make the first move. I had learned from Gaara that patience was an important key in a fight. The first to die were always the chargers and temperamental.

Sasuke was the first to move, lunging suddenly. I startled to the left and barely managed to block with my sword. He swung quickly again, going for my exposed arm. I ducked deeply and elbowed him hard in the gut.

He fell back, giving me enough time to step back as well and prepare to counter his next attack. Sasuke soon recovered and slashed his wooden weapon diagonally across my body. I blocked with my sword, but his superior strength knocked it from my hand. I scrambled back from his range.

Sasuke lunged at me again. Desperate to regain my sword, I screamed and pretended to cower. His gentlemanly side came out, and he stopped mid-swing, unable to hit a cowering girl. I shamelessly took advantage of this, kicking his feet out from beneath him and scrambling for my weapon.

He scowled at my under-handed tactics as we stood to face each other again. The rest of the fight continued this way. Back and forth between the two of us, neither of us holding the advantage for very long. When he finally disarmed me again and placed his sword to my throat in an obvious win, I suspected that he'd been taking it easy on me.

I was miffed, but I didn't want to admit that I knew that he knew I was weaker.

Matsuri had become bored at some point in the fight and was dozing under the orange tree. Normally, I would have been glad for the reprieve from her constant following, but now there was nothing to alleviate the heavy silences that fell between Sasuke and me these days.

Sasuke seemed to also be thinking about the change in our friendship because he said, "Do you remember when we used to spend whole summers together?"

"I do," I said, remembering back on my happy childhood. Back when I had had friends who weren't servants or suitors. Back when Sasuke was my confidant, and Sakura was my sister at heart. Back when Sasuke wasn't a cold and angry man, and Sakura wasn't possibly a murderer. "I miss it."

"I never got the chance to show you the ocean," he said, staring hard at the wooden sword in his hand as if it were the most fascinating thing. "You've seen it by now, I bet."

"Yes, I have," I said. Gaara had ended up being the one to show it to me. My hand went to the purple shell that was now hanging with my parents' rings. That was a rather fond memory of mine.

Sasuke noticed. "You went with someone. Probably with Temari or Kankurou. Or, Gaara."

I considered not answering, because it wasn't any of his business. But, then I realized that it was. Sasuke was supposed to be the first person to show me the ocean. He had been a young boy making that promise, but he had intended to follow through. He had failed, and now he wanted to know who had succeeded. I said, "I went with Gaara."

"Of course," Sasuke said, not bitterly. Then he said, "Could I still take you?"

"What?"

"I made a promise. What kind of King can't even keep a promise to his friend? I might not be the first person to show you the ocean, but I want to be one of them," Sasuke said.

I wondered what Gaara would think or say if he'd known I'd gone to the ocean with Sasuke. I was tempted to say no, because I didn't want any other memories to tangle with the night I'd gone with Gaara. But, Sasuke seemed so much like his younger self at the moment, the person who'd replaced him after his parents' death gone for once.

"Okay," I said.

"It's not that far from here," Sasuke said, looking out on the horizon as if he were calculating something. "We should leave in the early morning, that way we can take our time and get back before supper."

I nodded, and then made a hasty excuse to escape. I retreated back into the castle and went to find Temari. She was in our chambers, reading a letter. I didn't want to interrupt her, and was backing out of the room, when she saw me and called me over.

She tucked the letter away and said, "Look at your hair. It's a mess."

I turned so that she could fix it, and we settled into our habit of her fretting over me like a mother hen while I eagerly accepted the affection. It was nice to have a mother-like figure in my life. "I miss Gaara," I confided in her.

Unable to see her face, I couldn't tell if she was surprised or not. Her hands never stopped working as they adeptly pulled at the tangles.

"Me, too," she said.

"I kissed him."

This time her hands froze.

Then the words were rushing out of my mouth uncontrollably, like a waterfall, "It was nice. But, I didn't know what to do with my arms. I sort of just let them hang at my sides. I think he did the same thing, I don't really remember."

Temari laughed, returning to attending my hair.

"Oh, Ino. As pretty as you are, I'm shocked you don't have more experience with men and kissing," Temari said.

I scowled and for the second time that day, asked, "Is that a compliment or an insult?"

"A little of both, I think," Temari said, the smile clear in her voice.

"The only males I've come in contact have been family, servants, and suitors. None of the suitors struck my fancy, so I had no desire to kiss them," I defended.

Temari laughed again. Her voice, however, was more serious and kind when she said, "You might want to try putting your arms around his neck, or maybe threading your fingers in his hair."

"Ah," I said, finding it a little hard imagining doing either of these things to Gaara. Even in the kiss, only our lips were touching.

I wanted to tell her about the spar with Sasuke and how I felt guilty about going to the ocean with him tomorrow. I knew she would tell me that my guilt meant I knew it'd be wrong to go, and I didn't want to hear that. I genuinely wanted to go. It would be fun, and I missed my friendship with Sasuke.

Besides, I needed something to distract me from the meeting between Haya and Sakura, otherwise I might go crazy in the meantime.

.o0o.

When I woke up the next morning, Temari and Matsuri were still sleeping. I dressed in a light, yellow dress, marveling at the fact that I was wearing a summer frock in the middle of winter. I stole quietly through the castle, my feelings of guilt intensified by the sensation of sneaking out.

Sasuke was waiting at the stables, wearing light clothes as well and holding a lunch basket. Leiko and Sasuke's horse were already saddled.

"Have you been waiting long?" I asked. I had a paranoid feeling, like someone was watching me intently, and I was anxious to be gone.

"No, I just got here a few minutes before you," he said, mounting his horse.

I climbed into Leiko's saddle and asked, "How far is it to the ocean?"

I tried to remember how far we'd walked from the boat to the gates of Osaka. It had been a three hour walk. On horse back, it'd probably take less than two hours.

"It's about two hours to the ocean, but there's a certain place I want to take you, so we'll be riding for another half hour," Sasuke said.

"Oh," I said, thinking about how sore I'd be when we finally got there.

As if reading my mind he said, "We'll stop to stretch a few times."

I don't really know how long it took, not paying attention to the movement of the sun, but instead our discussion about the upcoming war. Having more knowledge made it seem all the more real. People really were dying, for freedom from the suffocating presence of the Akatsuki and Lord Orochimaru, but under the pretense of rescuing me. I wanted a more active part, but I didn't know what to do.

When we arrived, Sasuke turned to me and asked, "What do you think?"

After having been on the ship, I wasn't shocked by the immense size of the ocean. Actually, we were standing on the very inside of a small bay, so it seemed smaller than usual. It was more manageable this way, and I didn't feel as afraid or insignificant.

The sand had a more brown color to it than the first beach I had stood on, but the water was so much more blue and clear that I could see the fish flittering over the shell and starfish covered shallows.

"It's beautiful," I said as I slid off of Leiko. We didn't tie the horses up, instead letting them wander around the small clearing, confident they wouldn't run off.

"This was my favorite place to visit as a kid. My mom took me here," Sasuke said. We both took our boots off and wiggled our toes in the sand. He let out a big sigh before falling back into the sand, truly relaxing as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. I giggled and flicked sand at him.

Some of it hit his face and he sputtered before throwing more back at me. I shrieked as it got in my hair and went down the front of my dress. I retaliated and soon we were in a full out sand war that didn't end until we both collapsed, breathless from laughter and completely covered in sand.

"My dress is ruined," I said, not really caring. Sasuke was himself again, and it was great. I had missed him even more than I realized. It was similar to the feeling of realizing my father wasn't dead, that my best friend still existed.

"You started it," Sasuke said, shutting his eyes.

"I really missed this," I admitted. "You've been so different."

"I was going through a really dark time," Sasuke said. "Even now I'm still struggling."

"I know," I said.

I closed my eyes, too, and we sat in quiet companionship for a long while.

"I killed my brother."

I didn't react right away, feeling shock heavy on my chest. Itachi hadn't been there when I was with the Akatsuki, because Sasuke had killed him? I opened my eyes slowly and looked over at Sasuke. He was looking back with an intensely pained expression.

I remembered when Itachi would be around and I became a second. I was Sasuke's closest friend and possible future wife, but Itachi was the older brother he admired and wished to be like. He would follow him around, hoping Itachi would have the time to help him with training or just to spend time with him. The bond between them had made me jealous for a sibling often.

I didn't know the whole story, but I knew Itachi had something to do with the murders of King Fugaku and his wife. Sasuke had told me himself.

I reached out and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder, "Oh, Sasuke."

"All this time, I was angry at him for killing our parents and Aunt. I wanted nothing more than to make him feel the pain I felt," Sasuke said. "I trained nearly all the time, knowing that he was far beyond my level. I tracked him down when I felt strong enough, and I killed him.

"I remember just staring at the corpse, thinking that my brother was gone and it was because of me. I felt numb, instead of triumphant like I'd always imagined."

"Then," he said, but had to pause when his throat became choked with emotion. I wasn't able to watch him cry without feeling tears of my own. "Then, I found out that he had killed my parents to protect me and the peace of the Kingdom."

Then he was sobbing bitterly. I moved closer and let him latch onto me, burying my face in his neck and whispering comforting things to him until he calmed down enough to finish the story he had to tell.

"My parents and Aunt were planning on attacking the other Kingdoms in our alliance, including yours. They felt that our Kingdom was viewed as weaker and they wanted to be the ones to dominate the alliance. They wanted to be the authority. Itachi's trainer and mentor found out and urged Itachi to kill them. He told him that he wouldn't be able to live with us anymore and would be a criminal, but he would save a lot of lives. Itachi joined the Akatsuki a little before Orochimaru sent them and then fought them. He gave up his Kingship to me, and murdered our parents to save me. And, you. And your family and your people and my people."

I sucked in breath at the enormity of Itachi's sacrifice.

"And, I killed him."

"You didn't know, Sasuke. You didn't know."

"I should have. I should have known that Itachi wouldn't do something like that for nothing."

"How could you have?" I asked, massaging his scalp like that time in his room. "It was the worst betrayal. How could you have known the real reason behind it? I don't think he wanted you to know. I think he wanted to protect the love you had for your parents, even if it meant you hated him."

"I wish I would have known. I would have forgiven him and taken him back in. He didn't have to die an outsider at the hands of his own brother. He deserved so much more," Sasuke said.

"You deserve so much more than what happened to you," I said. What would life have been like if Sasuke's parents hadn't had such destructive greed? If Itachi didn't have to kill his parents. If Sasuke hadn't killed his brother. Would we have been married by now? Would we have children by now? It was strange to think about what could have been. I cried again for Sasuke and for what could have been.

A voice in the back of my head said, there was still a chance. Sasuke could still love me and I could still love him. We could live happily together, living on the ocean part of the year, avoiding the snow completely. We could be married and have children and watch them grow up and get married. Sasuke was familiar and safe. He would take care of me. I knew him so well, better now than even when we were younger. He had been to hell and back and was turning into a better person for it. I didn't know if I was that strong.

Then another voice reminded me of Gaara. I suppressed both voices, not wanting to think about it yet. I just wanted to enjoy this time with my childhood friend, and think later.

Eventually, we both stopped crying and unpacked our lunches. We ate and our talk turned back to lighter topics, just becoming reacquainted with another.

Our food containers sat discarded beside us when I asked, "You seem to have become very close friends with Naruto and Sakura. When did that happen?"

"Naruto fought with me against the Akatsuki. And, Sakura was really helpful with her knowledge of medicine," Sasuke said.

"I'm jealous. I wish I was still friends with Sakura, but it feels strained anymore," I said.

"Hm," Sasuke said, looking out at the ocean.

I wanted to tell him about what Matsuri had overheard between Haya and Sakura, but I still hoped it was a mistake. I didn't want to start any drama, only to find out that it was nothing.

"Can you swim?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Yes. But, I prefer not to," I said, thinking back on my horrible swimming lessons.

"I'll race you to the water?"

"You go ahead and swim, I'll just watch."

"Oh, come on," Sasuke said, "It's really shallow over here."

When I continued to balk he changed tactics, "You don't want to lose to me, again, do you?"

"I could beat you with my eyes closed," I said, lifting my chin haughtily.

"Prove it."

And, we were off across the sand. I tried pushing him out of the way, but he just ducked and ran faster. My skirt hampered my movements, so I lifted it and ran faster than I had ever run before. We ended up hitting the water at the same time, unable to stop our mad dash and falling into the water.

I surfaced, laughing at the absurdity of it all. Two grown nobles acting like two children, covered in sea water and sand. I looked at Sasuke and laughed harder, a piece of seaweed hanging from his hair.

We played in the surf for a long time, never going farther than waist deep in. I searched for shells, finding another spiral one similar to the purple one on my necklace. It was a sparkling white, and I held onto it to add later. We peered into tide pools, teeming with life, and counted the starfish decorating the rocks. Sasuke told me that their limbs grew back if they lost one.

Later we laid out to dry on the beach, watching the sun making its slow, slow progress towards the horizon. Once we were dry, we called for the horses and made the long trip back home. It was one of the best days of my life and I was sad to see it end.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that night.


	34. Caught Between a Curtain & a Hard Place

**Chapter 33: Caught Between a Curtain and a Hard Place  
**_(In which the Princess braids flowers in her hair and plans to find out what's going on)_

Isn't it strange how the smallest things can mean the most? Right now, what means the most to me is the warm feeling in my skin from the tropic sun and the balmy air sending my hair dancing. I've never felt more content, and I was determined to spend the rest of my stay lounging around in the beautiful weather.

Temari laughed when I told her if it were up to me I would never leave Naruto's Kingdom, that I'd be happy to spend the rest of my days in the lovely, summer-y days. She told me the summer was much too hot, making you feel sick and heavy.

Maybe, in the future, Naruto would let me visit in the winters. Anything to escape the cold that froze your limbs the moment you were out the fire's range. The cold weather that her father loved and thrived in. He was itching to be back. He was in his element there, dressed in several layers at the head of his table.

I knew he missed his kingdom, and expected a hard time to convince him to let me stay long enough to find out what Haya and Sakura were up to. But, when I went to him, he had already decided to stay longer. He ruffled my hair and told me to go on and enjoy my last few days.

I didn't need to be told twice.

The days passed by lazily, and I spent my time wading in the flamingo pond, chasing after the pink birds and sending them squawking around the garden, becoming acquainted with the tropical flowers, reading books from the library under the biggest orange tree, and just lounging and reflecting.

Which is what I'm doing now. Tonight was when Matsuri and I would find out what was happening. But, all I could think about was how empty the castle was and how lonely I felt. At home, I saw the same people day in, day out and only being close to a handful of people. Now, I had several more friends, and had grown used to seeing them. I felt their absence like a hole in my heart.

Resting against the bark of the orange tree, I braided my hair, weaving in the occasional flower or blade of grass, until I had a personal garden growing out of my head. It made me feel like a fairy, and I imagined having the power to spring whole forests from the earth. I wrapped the braid up on my head and pinned it into place before dropping my arms and looking up at the sky.

So blue, so vast. The sky touched every part of the land, and I remembered a time when I was jealous of the bird that was free to travel it. I was so far from home, and I didn't feel much ready to return anytime soon. But, I would be back. My father wouldn't let me stay away for too long.

When I go back, would he lock me away again?

I didn't have much time to mull over this, because Matsuri appeared before me.

"There you are," she said, placing her hands on her hips and adopting an annoyed expression. "I've been looking all over for you. That's all I do these days, you know. You keep the same haunts, but you've no set schedule."

"Ah, I like the freedom of going where I want when I want to," I said, understanding that I was basically what was left for company except for Lady Hinata, Temari, or Hanabi. "Besides, you should find other things to occupy your time other than seeking me out and intruding on my thoughts."

She deflated physically, her hands falling from her hips and her gaze drifting towards her feet. Even her hair seemed to droop. I would have laughed at her dramatic change of mood if I hadn't felt bad for causing it.

"Am I really that annoying to you?"

"No, no. I was only teasing," I assured, patting the ground beside me in invitation. She accepted the invitation cheerfully. Honestly, she was so childlike.

"You're hair is beautiful," she said, touching one of the flowers in my hair.

I was glad for the compliment (I was rather proud of the arrangement) and felt horrible for hurting her feelings, so I offered, "Want me to do yours?"

She nodded eagerly and turned away from me. I began to braid it like my own, weaving in flowers that complimented the deep brown of her hair and the thicker and golden grass. It was a bit of a challenge since her hair was shorter than mine, but I managed. The effect was lovely, and when I tied it up, I arranged the flowers so that they formed a crown on her head.

When I finished, she touched the sides lightly and thanked me.

Then we fell silent.

Have I ever mentioned that I hate silence?

Well, I guess I don't really hate it. When I'm by myself, I love to lounge in the quiet and think. But, with company there was the expectation to fill in the space, and normally I knew how to. Lately, I kept finding myself in situations where silences fell often. And, I hated it.

Finally, Matsuri said, "So…tonight."

I nodded.

"What're we going to do, exactly?"

"I don't know. Wait and see what they talk about?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"That's obvious, isn't it? I meant when we find out about the plan. What do we do _then_?" Matsuri asked.

"Well, we tell Lord Naruto. It's his castle, so he ought to know," I said.

"What if Lord Naruto's in on it?"

"No. No, he would never do anything like that."

"Lady Sakura doesn't seem the type to be involved in a murder plot, does she? And, Lord Naruto is close friends with her. We can't rule anyone out just yet," she said, picking at the bark on the tree with a thoughtful look.

Later that night when we sat at lunch, I studied Lord Naruto closely. He talked to Sakura some, but most of his attention was directed towards my father as they discussed what made a fine war horse.

I decided he couldn't be on it. Lord Naruto was a nice guy, but there was no way he could act so well. Sakura even, one of the most intelligent people I knew, couldn't hide her preoccupation. She was distracted and Temari had teased her twice already for spacing off.

Matsuri jabbed me hard in the side with her elbow and gestured towards my plate, which was still mostly full since I'd been busy watching Naruto and Sakura. Matsuri's food was nearly gone, and I focused on my own, knowing that we needed to excuse ourselves first so we could take our hiding places.

Minutes later, we were hurrying down the hallway. Out of breath, we burst into her chambers and looked around for a hiding spot. We tried out several spots before we settled behind the heavy curtains that hung in the corner. It was the only spot where we were completely out of sight that we could still see from, but we had to be careful not to stir the curtains with our breath or movements.

Then: we crouched. And crouched. And crouched.

"What's taking her so long?" Matsuri whispered, rubbing her thighs that must be cramping just as badly as my own.

I opened my mouth to respond, but quickly closed it when the door opened. We peered through a small crack, and saw Haya shifting through papers on Sakura's desk. She seemed to find what she was looking for, or at least something interesting, because she bent over a sheet to read it earnestly. Sakura entered a few minutes later.

"Snooping, Haya?" she said, frowning deeply as she shut the door behind her.

Haya pushed the sheet back into the pile with the others and perched on the side of the desk, looking unruffled and unabashed despite Sakura's annoyed scowl.

"What took you so long, hm? I'd say you were dawdling. You're not getting cold feet, are you?" Haya asked.

Sakura remained standing, her shoulders tense and her back straight, as if she were facing an enemy instead of a friend. I felt some renewed hope that there had been a misunderstanding.

"Of course not," Sakura said.

Haya smoothed her hair back, a contrast to the pink haired girl as she slouched comfortably on the desk. Her relaxed movements belied the hardness to her tone, "If you're not getting cold feet, why is she still alive?"

"I…I couldn't…not then. It wasn't a good moment. I told you, I would've been caught," Sakura answered and all of my hope melted away.

The maid jumped off the desk and stared down her nose at Sakura, "Your weakness will ruin our chances. If you keep hesitating, the opportunity will be lost."

"It's not easy," Sakura said. "We were friends."

"She's your rival, though. Will being friends stop her from marrying Sasuke?" Haya asked, her face twisted in a cruel expression.

Wait. Temari is going to marry Sasuke?

"Tonight, you're going to mix the poison into a drink and bring it to her. Make sure Temari doesn't see you. She should be dead by the morning," Haya continued.

I covered my mouth, not trusting myself to keep quiet when I figured out what was going on. It didn't seem like they were after Temari anymore…but who were they after, then? Not Lady Hinata, she is already married. Matsuri didn't love Sasuke as far as I knew.

"We don't need to kill her," Sakura said. "Ino doesn't love Sasuke. I know. She told me herself."

I wished I had the foresight to cover Matsuri's mouth, too. When she heard my name, I could hear her sharp intake of breath, and the two women we were eavesdropping on paused.

"Did you hear that?" Haya asked, looking around.

Sakura shrugged, "One of the glass panes are loose and wind blows in sometimes. It's especially irritating at night."

Haya looked around a bit longer, her eyes still squinted in suspicion before she turned back to Sakura, "Let's not change the subject. Ino told you she's not in love with Sasuke? What are all these rumors that she's going to marry him, hm? Did you know she spent a whole day with him before he left? They left the castle and could have been doing anything. I say she was just trying to trick you."

"Why would she have any reason to trick me if she didn't know that I was going to kill her?"

"She's sly like that. I've seen her, slinking around the castle and controlling the men. She likes to have them around her finger, and Sasuke is wrapped tightly around her little pinky. She's cunning, too. I'm sure she knows you love Sasuke and is just trying to give you some false hope," Haya said hatefully. I had no idea the feeling was mutual.

"Ino's not like that," Sakura said.

"Oh, but she is. You've only seen her projected face. As a maid, I've seen her true nature, when she's not playing for anyone."

It was strange to be able to hear what others truly thought of you, and to hear something so hateful. I didn't even feel anger. Just confusion. I had to wonder what I had ever done to Haya to make her dislike me so much.

Matsuri placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring squeeze that told me she didn't think those things.

"Even if Ino were that way, I know she doesn't love Sasuke," Sakura said.

Haya leaned closer to Sakura, so that their noses were nearly touching. Sakura stared her right back in the eye, refusing to be intimidated.

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because, Ino is in love with Gaara, not Sasuke."

I could feel Matsuri's eyes on me, but I didn't look away from the two. I was suddenly remembering Sakura throwing out her mix and remaking it when she was fixing me up. The bright flash when Leiko fell. The odd looks Sakura gave me. I could have died. She was going to kill me, but my confession saved me. My chest felt tight and each breath felt like a struggle.

"Another lie," Haya said dismissively.

"No. You should have seen her eyes. She's completely in love with him," Sakura said. "Also, she's engaged to Lord Shino. She can't marry either of them."

"See! I told you she liked to have men at her beck and call. Sasuke…Gaara…and she's already betrothed!" Haya exclaimed, giddy for the proof.

"Even if that's true, she can't marry Sasuke."

"But, Sasuke is in love with her. Do you think that will go away just because she's married? He won't give her up. He will never look to you until she is dead."

I needed to get out of there. I had to find Lord Naruto. They were going to kill me. And, if they caught us here, they would kill Matsuri, too. I looked over at Matsuri, ready to signal her when I heard, "Ha! I knew it!"

Haya strode over to the curtain and ripped it open. I let out a strangled yelp and made to jump straight up but stumbled back into the wall, my legs unstable from crouching for so long. She grabbed my hair and pulled me up and over to Sakura's bed. I struggled the best I could, but Haya was taller and stronger than me, conditioned from years of hard work.

After she tied my wrists to the wooden frame of the bed, I looked around and saw that Sakura was holding Matsuri's wrists behind her.

"Don't even bother trying to escape," Haya said, turning and going to the door. She stuck her head out and motioned to someone standing outside. A man who looked slightly familiar came entered. Where had I seen him before?

Haya whispered something to him and he pulled out a bit of cloth. He looked at Sakura questionably and she, seeming to understand what he needed, nodded towards a cupboard. He went over and searched the cabinet for something.

The guy was lean and tall, his hair and a pure white color that was so out of place on such a young man. He pulled out a bottle and poured it into the cloth. I felt a sudden dread in my stomach.

"Help!" I called, struggling around on the bed and wondering why I hadn't called out sooner. Matsuri joined in, but only managed one cry before Sakura covered her mouth with the cloth. Her eyes fluttered shut and she fell limp in the pink haired girl's arms.

"Someone, help! They're going to kill me!"

Haya grabbed the cloth back from Sakura and shoved it hard in my face. A chemical smell entered my nose, and then the world disappeared.


	35. Life as a Captive, Again

**Chapter 34: Life of a Captive, Again  
**_(In which the Princess curses her bad luck and struggles not to die)_

The world came back slowly, like a naughty dog reluctant to return to his master, afraid of punishment. There was a whooshing sound in my ears that soon faded away into snippets of conversation.

"I hope you're happy, Sakura. Lady Karin won't be glad to hear how much of a hassle you've turned this into," someone said. I recognized the voice, but my mind seemed too thick and tired in my skull to match a face with it.

Someone responded tersely, but I had noticed the horrible coldness of the floor pressed against me and was distracted, wondering where I was that it was so cold. I couldn't be back home, could I?

The thought of home helped my mind clear a little, and I realized that couldn't be right. I'd been knocked out. I would've woken up sometime on the trip. So, I must be deep in the castle. Probably in a dungeon.

I cracked open one eye and saw that I was locked in a small room. The only light was in the corner, a small flickering flame that illuminated the faces of my captors. I couldn't see Matsuri. Where was she?

They didn't kill her? They wouldn't…they couldn't…she had nothing to do with it! I heard a small groan behind me and was relieved that she was just out of my line of vision. I closed my eyes and sighed against the stone floor. Matsuri was okay. I was okay. Everything, for the moment, was okay. Matsuri and I could figure this out. We would get out alive.

Knowing that, I paid attention to the voices that were still talking, pretending to be still knocked out.

"I'm done," said an angry voice. It had to be Sakura. She continued, "I'm done with this. You can tell Lady Karin to come down here and kill her herself if she wants it done so badly."

"If only it were that easy, hm? You can't just back out now. Karin would pin the murder plot on you. The spoiled brat over there has heard enough to incriminate you, but not a word of Karin's involvement. You drop out of the plot now, not only will you be labeled a murderer, but you'll gain several enemies, lose Lord Naruto's friendship, and Sasuke will hate you forever. You'll be pushing the two together." The slimy voice giving the speech had to belong to Haya.

They still thought I was asleep. What a bunch of idiots, talking about their plot right in front of their victims.

"If we kill her now, it'll be too incriminating. We will either have to kill her here and then risk being caught bringing her dead body back to her bed. Or we'll have to drag her back to her bed alive and then risk her escaping or catching someone's attention. Either way, we'll have to kill the other one, too," Sakura said. "And, it'll be too suspicious if they both die of seemingly natural causes. Then, when they go around questioning everyone, I'll be the highest suspect because I'm the one who is the most versed in medicine."

"That is all true, but they will tell if left alive," Haya said.

"What a fix," a masculine voice said. The man from the room, with silver hair and violet eyes, I think. I opened my eyes a little and confirmed through the thin sliver of sight that it was indeed him.

"It's only a fix because of Sakura's hesitance. She's had many opportunities," Haya said bitterly. "I paid a stable boy to follow her and the Marugame Prince to their training grounds and wait in the brush and spook the horse. She was injured and brought right to Sakura's doorstep for healing, where Sakura could've executed the murder perfectly under the guise of a surgical mistake.

"A few days after that, the Spoiled Brat left the castle grounds completely to go to the beach with Sasuke. I told Sakura about it, and even followed the Brat until she left the grounds, hoping that Sakura would contact one of her guardsmen and have him follow her. It would be easy for him to pretend to be a random thief and kill her. But, Sakura only moped around the castle.

"Not to mention all the times she was alone with the Brat and could have poisoned her easily. And, as if all of these opportunities weren't enough, a specially selected troop of men from her military has been trailing the Brat, even when she was with the Akatsuki, waiting to kill her if Deidara didn't. He didn't and neither did they."

I forced myself to breathe deeply, not wanting to show any reaction that would give me away. The more information I had, the more devoted they would be to killing me.

"Oh, shut it," Sakura said.

Then, I had an idea.

If I woke and pretended amnesia, they wouldn't have to worry about them telling. Matsuri would hopefully catch on and play along. If I couldn't remember anything to tell, then the issues with killing me would far outweigh those of keeping me alive.

I stirred with a low moan. The others in the room fell silent.

"It seems the drug has worn off," Haya said. In the dark shadows of the small room, the look on her face sent a shiver up my spine.

"Where…where am I?" I asked, looking around confusedly. I tried to sit up, but my hands were bound in rope, inhibiting that sort of movement.

"Did those flowers sink their roots in your skull and suck up all your smarts?" Haya asked snidely. I frowned but didn't allow myself to respond.

"Flowers?" I touched my hair in what I hoped was a convincing act of ignorance. "Why are there flowers in my hair. I…where's Deidara? Why am I inside? My head hurts and…Sakura?"

I leaned forward, and peered through the darkness at the pink haired girl who was standing back close to the wall, as if trying to fade into the shadow.

I quickened my breath, "Sakura! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in years! Did you…save me? From the Akatsuki?"

Haya frowned, turning to Sakura, "What's this? Has she lost her memories?"

"I don't know," Sakura said, her brows scrunching together in confusion. She must know that I'm acting. I look her straight in the eyes and try to convince her without words or expressions. She didn't seem to want to kill me. If I could just work off that, Matsuri and I might escape with our lives intact.

She must have understood because she said, "If they inhale too much of the chemical, it could take their recent memories."

It took every fiber of my being not to sigh in relief. Sakura was on my side after all, it seemed.

"Wake the other and see if she still remembers," Haya ordered. Sakura obeyed, as if she were the maid and Haya the lady.

"Matsuri," Sakura said, shaking the girl's shoulder. "Wake up. Do you remember anything?"

Once she was roused, I feared that she didn't know enough to keep quiet. I remember when I had first woken up, my mind still numb from the chemicals. So I said, "Remember what? Who is she?"

"Silence, Brat!" Haya cut across, and I was glad that she was too far to slap me.

"I want my pa!" Matsuri cried out suddenly, distracting her attention from me. "Who are all of you, and where is my pa?"

Haya stared with quiet disbelief, her mouth comically hanging open. Under different, pleasanter circumstances I would have laughed at the expression.

We were going to make it out of this alive. Feeling like laughing from relief, I turned to Matsuri and asked, "Did you get kidnapped, too? Who are you?"

"I'm Matsuri…did you say kidnapped?" she asked, looking worried.

I opened my mouth to respond, but Haya said, "You can cut the act. It is far too convenient that you would both just lose your memories like that. Even if they had, how would we explain locking them up in here? Or their memory loss to the others? No, we still need to kill them."

Her voice was shaky, and I wondered why she seemed so close to an emotional breakdown. She glared at Sakura and said, "I need to speak to you out there. He will watch the Brats." She gestured at the silver haired man and then dragged Sakura out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

Well, at least I wasn't the only brat anymore.

I tried again to sit up and, after much struggling, succeeded. Matsuri didn't try to sit up, instead lying on the floor and staring at a small drain in the center of the floor. The room looked like a small prison cage, and I realized with a crinkle of my nose that the drain was probably to prevent waste from building up.

Grossed out, I turned away and looked at the man who was watching us. He was using a pocket knife to pick the dirt from underneath his finger nails. I was once again struck by a feeling that prickled like goose bumps that I knew him from somewhere.

I stared at him for some time, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar. He noticed and asked, "What are you staring for? You like what you see?"

Angry and indignant from the comment, I turned away in a huff. Matsuri looked away from the drain and up at me, a sense of hopelessness in her eyes. I wanted to tell her something encouraging, that we would make it through this alive. That Naruto would notice us missing and send his men to comb through the castle for us. But, with the man in the room, I couldn't say anything of the like.

If only Gaara were still here. Or, even Kankurou. There so few people left, would there be anyone to realize we were missing? Why did Sasuke have to leave, too? He would've found us.

"Oh," I said, stunned with realization. I said again, "Oh."

"What?" the man by the door asked, not looking up from his nails.

"I know who you are," I said. He glanced up sharply. "I thought you looked familiar, and I just remembered that I've seen you before. At Sasuke's court. You were his new friend…Lord Suigetsu, I think."

"So what if you know who I am?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders. "You'll be dead before the night's over."

"I just find it strange," I said. I shrugged my shoulders, too, as if asking _Who am I to question it?_

Suigetsu asked, "Find what strange?"

"That a servant like Haya would have so much power over two nobles. She seems to be the head of this…situation…and you and Lady Sakura follow her commands like a pair of trained hunt dogs," I said.

He smiled and said, "You think you're so smart. Taunting me like that? Well, Haya's not even a real servant. She's actually Karin's younger sister. She's a princess much as you."

"She is?" I asked, attempting to feign disinterest. I must've failed at hiding my shock, because Suigetsu looked pleased. "Why would Lady Karin send her own sister to work as a maid at Naruto's castle and do her dirty work?"

"Haya and Karin aren't on good terms. It seems that Haya was tired of the measure of her worth being what connections she could form through marriage. Karin wanted to marry her off to Lord Orochimaru to cement their alliance. Haya was revolted by the idea of marrying that foul man and refused. When Karin threatened to force her into marriage, Haya attempted to kill her, saying that if she was the crown princess, no one could force her into anything.

She failed obviously, and was officially banished. But, unofficially, she has become Karin's spy. Going where ever Karin sends her to work as a maid and learn the enemy's secrets from the inside," Suigetsu explained, not seeming to care that he was putting the two of them in danger if they lived. His confidence that we would soon be dead was scarier then hearing Haya and Sakura discuss our deaths. "If she successfully gets rid of you and whoever stands in Karin's way of marrying Lord Sasuke, then Haya is free to return to being a princess and marry whomever she wishes."

There was a long silence as I soaked this in. The reason Haya hated me so much was because I was an obstacle to her. Sakura and Haya returned not too long after, stopping me from asking anything more of Suigetsu. I don't know what more I'd ask from him, but it seemed significant that the opportunity was lost.

Seeing Haya after finding out that she was a princess and related to Karin was strange. She didn't look much like either. Her body was muscled like a maid, her fingers callused, her hair a dull brown. She was pretty enough, but there wasn't much spectacular about her. I wondered who she would marry if she could choose.

I was almost feeling pity for her, until she said, "Let's get this over with."


	36. Where is Your Perseus?

**Chapter 35: Where is Your Perseus?  
**_(In which the Princess continues to try not to die)_

Dripping water echoed in the silence that followed Haya's words. Her eyes bored into mine as she tried to intimidate me, but I refused to let my fear show. Karin must really make her feel small. After what Suigetsu told me, I felt that I was beginning to understand her. She was so angry and forceful, because she was tired of being squished into a mold that didn't fit her. She wanted control of something.

And, to survive, I would give her control. Or, rather, the semblance of control.

Matsuri sniffled twice, but her face was blank as she scooted closer to me. This would be hard and horribly humbling, but I would have to do this for her. Matsuri had done nothing but be a good friend.

"What're you going to do?" I asked.

The dripping water was persistently annoying. Coupled with the adrenaline rushing through my veins and the heart beat in my ears, it felt as though I was submerged once again in the swollen river, close to death.

If only Gaara was here like he had been that time.

Haya grinned at my fear that I no longer attempted to mask. She seemed pleased as a cat who'd just caught a particularly fat mouse. And, I was that fat mouse. "Just wait and see. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

Well…maybe not a _fat_ mouse, but a good, healthy mouse that'd probably be delicious.

Haya gestured to Suigetsu, who took hold of my shoulders. Sakura came forward with gags and forced one into my mouth. The fabric was dirty and the taste of it made me feel like I was going to be sick. I tried to spit the rag out, but Sakura tied a strip of cloth around my head to prevent that.

Then Haya approached with a large, brown cloth bag and I, seeing the mean glint in her eye, fought and struggled against Suigetsu's and the rope binding my hand's hold. My muscles burned with the effort and the skin of my wrists seemed rubbed completely off, but I managed to knock Suigetsu off me for a while and kick Haya hard in the gut.

Spitting with anger, Haya backhanded me. The gag muffled my whimper. Within seconds, all the hope of making it out alive had vanished. Suigetsu forced me to bow before Haya, and she slipped the bag over my head and secured it with a bit of rope.

I panicked until I realized that I could still breathe, just that the air was musty and too warm. I wish I could pull the bag off and take a deep breath of fresh air, but my hands were securely behind my back.

Suigetsu's hands left my shoulders, and I heard Matsuri struggle to avoid my fate. Eventually the sounds subsided and all I could hear was the dripping water. I was forced up onto my feet, and soon, we were being herded out of the room and into what I guessed was the hallway. The room was colder, and the sound of the water grew distant until I could no longer hear it.

We walked for a few minutes, taking several turns before I could feel wind on my skin, and I knew we were outside. Being marched away from the castle, gagged and with a bag over my head, I felt like one of those horrible criminals who were to be beheaded. The thought clutched around my heart like fear. Then, I realized how scared I was and began to cry.

"Ho, stop there. Who do you have here?"

We stopped.

"A couple of prisoners. These maids are to be executed for being a part of the disappearance of the Lady Ino and Lady Matsuri," Haya answered easily. I gasped into my gag. How long had we been down in the small room? My stomach pinched with hunger at the idea that it had been more than a day, and a feeling of desperation came over my limbs. My muscles felt tight and tingly, and I knew I needed to do something and fast. This could be my last chance to save us.

I began to struggle violently, strengthened by the knowledge that all I had to do was get the bag off my face to blow their cover. An elbow sank hard into my gut, and I dropped to my knees with a muffled cry.

"It seems you have your hands full there, would you like one of us to go with you?"

"That's awfully kind of you, but I think we can handle the two of them. Thank you all the same," Haya answered in the most polite voice I'd heard from her. I thought I would have died before hearing her speak nicely and then wished I hadn't thought about my death at all.

I was hauled roughly to my feet by the back of my dress, the collar digging painfully into my neck and blocking off air briefly. Not wanting to make things easier for them in the least, I kept my body limp and wouldn't walk. I heard Suigetsu's frustrated growl and he grew fiercer in his attempts to force me to stand.

I was going to die anyway, right? There was nothing left to fear.

After several hauling ups and droppings, he gave up on trying and began to drag me away from the castle. It hurt, my body scraping against the ground and I could feel the angry heat of rug burns on my exposed skin, but I was slowing them down significantly and would draw unnecessary attention to the group.

Haya seemed to realize my intentions because she said, "It's no use, Suigetsu. You're going to have to carry her."

Suigetsu growled again at the prospect, but scooped me up off the ground. I struggled some, but he pinned down my limbs and I couldn't move. I allowed myself to relax, telling myself that I was conserving my strength for the later, last fight. But, really, I was just bone weary.

We walked for a long time. I dozed off towards the end and was rudely awakened by being dumped unceremoniously on the ground. My muscles were sore from being in the same attitude for so long and I could feel my heart beat in my various rug burns. Times like this made me wish I had never climbed down that balcony.

Our bags and gags were removed and I gulped in a huge breathe of air, glad to have fresh, cool air in my lungs. I looked over at Matsuri and saw that she had a black eye. The sight made me angry, and I was prepared to give them hell when another sight froze me.

There was another person in the clearing, who I remembered, though the last time I had seen him he had been framed by a tent and fire light. He noticed my frozen stare and chuckled, "I see you remember me, _Andromeda_."

His words set my limbs free, and everything in me told me to flee. I jerked in response, forgetting that I was tied up in my panic and falling over. I opened my mouth to say something or to scream, but my breathing was too harsh. I couldn't get enough air to my lungs. I kept gasping, tears running down my face.

"What's wrong with her? What did you do to her?" Matsuri demanded.

Haya smacked her harshly and then laughed suddenly. The noise of it was sudden and too high, making Matsuri jump nervously, her hand on her cheek. "She's scared witless," Haya jeered.

"She's hyperventilating," Sakura said quietly. I tore my eyes away from the man and turned to look at Matsuri. The worried furrow in her brow helped me calm down. I was worrying her. I didn't want her to be afraid. I needed to be strong. Sakura said I was hyperventilating, so I wasn't dying. Not yet. I just needed to focus on taking deep, even breaths.

Sakura turned to the man and asked, "You know her, Tero? Why did you call her Andromeda?"

"She prevented me from getting that Marugame prince. If she hadn't knocked him out of the way and woke up the other one, we probably would have beaten the lot of them," the man, Tero, answered. I shivered, remembering how the arrow had barely missed Kankurou's head. "As for why I call her Andromeda…she knows why. Don't you, little one?"

He cupped my chin in his hand and pulled my head up to look at him. "Where's your Perseus now?"

I pulled my face away and asked, "Who gave Matsuri that black eye?"

Haya laughed her horrid laugh again, "That was me, Brat. What are you going to do about it?"

It was better to be angry than scared, I thought. Allowing the anger to build inside of me, I tried to think of the worst fates I could, "I'll gouge your eyes out with my own nails! I'll tie a brick to your ankles and let you sleep with the clams! I'll tie you to a post and let the crows eat you!"

Haya smacked me. My hands strained in their ties. How I wished I could smack her back. "I'll slap you until your bones bruise." Haya smacked me again.

"Quit your shouting," Haya demanded. "You couldn't do any of that, not now. Kill her, Tero…wait. No, kill the other one first, in front of her."

"No, don't touch her. Let her go. She has nothing to do with this. Matsuri won't say anything. She'll go back to the castle and say that we went to pick flowers by the castle gates to surprise Lady Hinata with a beautiful bouquet and the Akatsuki captured us. She'll say that I was killed, but she managed to get away. You'll be safe, and you can go back to your Kingdom after I'm dead," I said, talking fast in fear they would cut me off. "Please, don't hurt her. Please, please, please. She had nothing to do with this. Sakura, she's innocent. Please."

"This is great fun," Haya said before Sakura could respond. "I love seeing the proud Brat grovel. Grovel some more, and maybe we'll save your pathetic friend."

I cleared my throat, choked with emotion and the knowledge that no matter what I said, they would kill her. "Please, she's never done anything to any of you. She's no obstacle of any kind. She is no harm. She'll return home soon, and she won't even be near enough to cause you harm if she wanted. She's loyal to her word and will do what you tell her. Please, please don't hurt her. Kill me now and be done with it."

"Ah," Haya said, as if listening to calming music. "That's enough, I think. Tero, kill the girl now. Suigetsu, don't let the Brat look away."

Suigetsu grabbed my face and forced me to stare at Matsuri. Tero unsheathed his sword and approached Matsuri. I screamed, "No! Tero! Tero, it was me! I'm the one who stopped you! You could have killed me all that time ago and returned home!"

The man paused and looked over his shoulder at me. To keep his attention, I continued on, "It was me, Tero. And, you asked where my Perseus was. Well, he's here. He's coming and he will kill you. He only knocked you aside then, but he will kill you now. I hope with all my being that his blade doesn't miss its mark."

"Tero," Haya admonished as the man stepped towards me and away from Matsuri. The man shrugged his shoulders, as if he didn't care what she said and took another step.

"You're pathetic compared to him. You've trained so hard, but you'll never best him. He's the greatest warrior ever, and he will kill you easily. Just like he knocked you easily to the side," I said, laughing hysterically. Was I going crazy? It felt like I was cracking under a great, great pressure.

"Kill the other first!" Haya shouted, sounding like she was on the verge of a temper tantrum. "Sakura, make the brute listen!"

"Tero, do what Haya says" Sakura said.

The man's muscles quivered, unwilling to disobey a direct order from his princess, but also unwilling to let her words go.

"Yes, little Tero. Listen to Haya. You can't touch me anyway. I'm safe. Protected. He will come and he will kill you," I pressed, wishing the words were true – that Gaara really was my Perseus and would come to my aid right before the sea monster emerged and slay it when it did.

Tero growled and came at me with his sword. He must have had some twisted sort of honor. All the men I knew would never attack a woman, especially one that was tied up. She went to tell him this when he halted suddenly, his sword above his head in mid-swing.

For a split second I felt swell in my heart. It must be Gaara coming to my aid, but as Tero crumpled to the ground, the person standing behind him and wielding a sharp rock wasn't Gaara, but Matsuri.

"Don't touch her, you brute!" Matsuri shouted at the fallen man. Suigetsu let go of my face and leapt up, his hand on his hilt and ready for action. Haya hissed in annoyance, angry that Matsuri had taken advantage of her distraction to cut herself free.

"And, you," Matsuri crossed over to Haya and slapped her with a force I hadn't known she was capable of. "Don't touch her, either!"

The sound resounded in the silence, and Haya touched her cheek with disbelief. Matsuri backed up a few steps. The expression of shock slowly changed into one of complete fury.

"Run, Matsuri!" I shouted, breaking the spell that had fallen over everyone, and there was flurry of action. Matsuri turned and high tailed it away into the surrounding forest, and Suigetsu chased her. Haya stomped her foot and shouted. Sakura was trying to revive Tero. I used a tree branch as leverage and stumbled to my feet to follow after Matsuri and Suigetsu.

I could see the two of them just up ahead and hear Haya following after me, shouting profanities the whole way. I ran as fast as I could, but my bound hands prevented me from pushing branches out of the way and they pulled at and ripped through my clothes and hair, slowing me down.

Matsuri and Suigetsu had already broken through the last line of trees and were barely visible. I could hear Haya's labored breathing and picked up my pace despite the ache in my side. I had emerged from the forest when I saw Matsuri turn to run along the edge of a cliff. The world seemed to slow as the ground beneath her feet broke off from the cliff and brought her down with.

I screamed, falling to my knees as her shocked face disappeared from view. Suigetsu stopped running and Haya caught up with me, but still I screamed her name. The brown haired maid slapped my face, but I wouldn't stop. I couldn't feel the pain anymore. I couldn't feel anything except disbelief that Matsuri was gone and terror that it was for forever.


	37. The White Chrysanthemum

**Chapter 36: The White Chrysanthemum  
**_(In which the Princess almost gives up but doesn't, because good heroines don't do that)_

**Note: I changed the style of the story's format a bit and titled the chapters. I like it, I hope you do, too. :)**

I remember…when I was much younger, standing in the throne room next to my father's chair, listening to the Physician talk about mother's condition. He used the longest words I'd ever heard, and spoke them with a strange emphasis. I was fascinated by the way he talked and wished that I could understand.

Then, my father began to cry and I understood. I understood so suddenly and terribly, that I had to sit. And, since I had no chair to sit on, I sat on the floor. The Physician said other things I didn't understand, but I recognized the word "sorry".

At that moment, I felt like I was in a dream; my father weeping openly on his throne and a maid patting my back sympathetically. I kept hoping that it was, and that I would someday wake up from it.

I guess that's why the pain didn't hit me right away. I felt like a zombie, floating from room to room, looking for my mother as if we were merely playing a game of hide and seek. No matter the mourning I saw around me, I couldn't accept that my mother was gone. That is…until the funeral.

The priest stood in the center of the garden and swathed my mother's cold body in silk and flowers, a fitting farewell to the beautiful Lady Yamanaka. Sasuke was there. He caught my eye from across the crowd and nodded once. And, it was like I had been given permission to grieve, and like that was what I had been waiting for all along.

The pain I felt then, the pain I felt when my father was supposedly dead, wasn't like the pain I felt now. That pain had been a slow burning, ever present sort, building up and sometimes catching spark in a memory. This pain...this pain was different. It was like a paper fire, swift and dramatic; the flame consuming the entire sheet within seconds before burning itself out.

But, the pain didn't seem likely to burn itself out, instead, feeding on lingering feelings of guilt and self-hatred. It didn't seem likely to ever go away. Matsuri hitting Tero. Her expression as the ground broke away. Suigetsu slowing to a stop, confirming my worst fears. Why did it hurt so much?

Then: physical pain.

"Stand up," Haya hissed, yanking me to my feet by the hair. She walked back towards where we had left Tero and Sakura, half-dragging me behind her. Several of the rug burns reminded me of their presence and for a short while I was distracted from the muddle of feelings overwhelming me.

Back in the original clearing, Sakura had Tero propped up against a tree and was wrapping his head. He was unconscious. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Soon, Suigetsu would cut my throat and the pain and guilt would be gone.

I opened my mouth to ask Suigetsu to end it, when I realized that – if I died now – my father would be alone. I pressed my mouth in a firm line, afraid that I would accidentally beg for the easy way out.

"Can't you wake him up?" Haya asked, shoving me away from her. I tripped on a tree root and fell on my face in the mud. Aside from turning my head so I could see and breathe better, I didn't move, hoping they would forget I was there.

"I'm not a miracle worker, Haya. Things like this take time," Sakura said. "Besides, I don't have any of my supplies with me."

"Fine," Haya rubbed her temples and let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. We don't need Tero anyway. Suigetsu can take care of the other girl, too."

"What do you mean 'too'?" Suigetsu said, examining his thumbnail. "The other girl fell off a cliff. I didn't kill her."

"Matsuri fell off a cliff?" Sakura asked, half rising from where she squatted next to the injured man.

"Yes," Haya said impatiently. "Now, let's not split hairs. We need to finish the job."

She peeled me out of the mud so that I was kneeling in front of her. I stared at her feet. They were large for a girl. I wish I was back in the castle observing that, where I could laugh. Actually, why couldn't I laugh? Laughing right now would set Haya off.

So I did. I laughed.

"Is she crazy?" Sakura asked.

Haya held her hand up, ready to swing it, but hesitated and then dropped it again.

"No," she said. "No, I don't think I will indulge you. You like to frustrate and annoy me. For some reason, you still think you have the upper hand."

She leaned over, her breath hitting my cheek with her words, "Let me remind you: Matsuri's dead. Gaara has long returned to his castle, as Sasuke has by now. Naruto and your father are searching in all the wrong places. You have no hope."

"Lord," I said.

"What did you say?" Haya snapped, narrowing her eyes at me.

"I said Lord. Lord Gaara. Lord Sasuke. Lord Naruto. Lord Inoichi. You have no right to drop their titles."

"I have every right in the world."

"No."

"Enough of this," Haya stomped her foot. She straightened and turned to face Suigetsu. "You. Kill her already."

"No way. I'm not going to do your dirty work. Being here is more than enough leverage over me for you to have," Suigetsu said, picking at a hangnail on the same thumb he'd been staring at the whole time. His ability to seem so unconcerned, even with Haya glaring daggers at him, was admirable. I tried to mirror it. "If you want her dead, do it yourself."

"Since Tero can't and you won't, I guess I will have to," Haya said. She held her hands up in the fading light, "These hands have done many things. They've hauled water, cleaned privy pots, massaged Lady Hinata's back, skinned rabbits…all because of you. And, because of you, they will murder."

"Not because of me. Because of Karin," I said.

The tensing in her shoulders was the only sign that she heard me. She took Tero's sword and ran her finger along the flat of the blade, "Do you have any last words?"

"Yes," I said. Turning to each of them I said, "Sakura, your pink hair is suiting, because your long nose puts me in mind of those squawking flamingoes. You're a horrible friend. Suigetsu, you remind me of an old hunt dog, gladly obeying your owner unless the order involves too much work. I don't like you much. And, Haya. You are a weak-handed, fit-throwing, big-footed brat. Kill me if you dare."

Haya growled and lashed out with the sword. I half expected someone to pop out of nowhere and save me before the blow struck. But, no one appeared, and Tero's sword sliced into my cheek. I bit my lower lip to keep from whimpering and placed a hand over the throbbing wound.

"I'm tired of you provoking me!" Haya shouted.

The cut stung viciously, and I realized that I was crying and the salt in my tears was angering the injury further. I sniffled and leaned back to reach the closest branch sticking out from the bush behind me.

Haya laughed, dragging my focus back to her. "Oh, did that hurt?" she asked, swinging the sword in a small, careless circle. I managed to hook the rope on the branch. "This is fun. I wonder what I should cut next? Maybe I should cut your tongue out next. No. I don't think I'll do that yet. I'll build up to it. I'll do this first."

She leapt forward and raked the sword down my arm. My lip was bleeding from effort not to show pain. I pulled down with my wrists and struggled to slip a hand from the binding in the space created.

"You're so proud," Haya taunted, turning the sword to form an 'x' on my arm.

"Stop it," Sakura said.

"Shut up, Sakura! Quit being so uncooperative! If you want Sasuke, you'll have to fight for him," Haya shouted. She turned to berate Sakura and I, seeing my chance, struggled harder. My skin felt ready to rip from my muscles, but I managed to slide one hand out.

Grinning triumphantly despite the pain of the bleeding cut on my cheek and my swelling lip, I dumped the rope on the ground and sprang at Haya. I wrenched the sword from her surprised grip and pointed it at her. She froze, her arms pressed rigidly to her sides.

"I know how to use this," I said, hefting the sword in my hand. "Do as I say and I won't harm you."

"Fat chance," Haya spat.

"Don't speak! And, don't move," I commanded, stepping closer and giving her a small scratch on the top of her nose. She scrunched her face, but didn't move otherwise. Sure that I had her obedience, I pulled her closer and held the sword to her throat.

"Sakura, come here and tie her…" I paused, peering into the forest surrounding. Nothing moved outside the clearing. I must be seeing things, because for I moment I thought I had seen a flash of red. Like I had taken advantage of Haya's distraction, she had taken advantage of mine, biting down on my hand and dancing out of my range.

I still had the sword. But, Suigetsu had one, too. Haya stepped behind him and glared over his shoulder. I braced myself, ready for his attack. He didn't move, now examining his other fingers for hangnails.

"I hate hangnails, don't you?" Suigetsu asked, ignoring Haya's growl. "They're small, but cause a great deal of annoyance and pain."

"Uhm, I suppose they are," I said, the earlier feelings of admiration for his indifference now grating on my nerves. I rose my sword higher, and asked, "Well, are you planning on attacking me or not?"

"I already said I wasn't going to do her dirty work," he said with a shrug and stepping away from Haya. "And, I wouldn't want to attack you in front of Sasuke and Gaara."

Haya's eyes went wide with fright as the two said men stepped out from the tree line. I felt faint with relief and shock. No, I really felt faint. I put a steadying hand against the nearest tree.

"She's weak from blood loss and hunger," Sakura said. She took a small step, suspended between the urge to help and the fear of what might happen if she moved. Sasuke turned to look at her, an anger on his face that made her shrink back beside Tero.

Gaara nodded to Sasuke and helped me sit down. I gripped his arm tightly, giving it a shake, and said, "Matsuri. _Matsuri_."

"Is she here?" Gaara asked, glancing around the clearing to see if he had missed her.

"You two took forever showing up," Suigetsu asked. He had Haya with her arm wrenched behind her back, catching her by the arm as she tried to slip away. He gestured to the path Matsuri had taken earlier with a jerk of his head, "It's a long story, but she ran that way and…well, you got here too late to help her."

"What happened?" Gaara said, his body tensing up. I remembered that his family had known Matsuri longer than I had.

"She was running along the side of the cliff and it broke away. She's gone," Suigetsu said, having the decency to look remorseful.

"You forgot to mention that you were chasing her when she fell. Why are you suddenly acting like you didn't help Haya and Sakura bring us out here?" I asked with clenched fists.

"It would have been better for me to catch her than for Haya to," Suigetsu shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't really care what I thought and didn't feel the need to explain himself to me.

I opened my mouth to demand he answer my question when Sasuke said, "We'll explain later, Ino. Now, we need to get you back to the castle to treat your wounds and get Haya under guard."

I was so glad that they were here to take over, that I didn't have to be strong anymore. But, when Gaara moved to help me up, his face tight with sorrow, I stopped him. I couldn't leave. Not yet. Not without looking over the cliff and confirming that she was really gone. Not without giving her a proper farewell.

"I want to see Matsuri first," I said. Sasuke looked exasperated and Suigetsu looked annoyed, but Gaara nodded. This time when he went to help me up, I let him.

I was exhausted beyond belief, but Gaara let me lean into him, making the walk less arduous.

When we reached the cliff and peered cautiously over, I was glad of the extra security of Gaara's hold on my arm. Below us ran a fast stream, the current splashing the water noisily against the rocks lining the banks.

Matsuri's body was nowhere to be found, but it was hard to even hope that she would survive a fall into rocky river from such a height. My still-bleeding cut stung, and I realized that I was crying and irritating it again.

Why had I been so mean to her? I had disliked her so much at the beginning, and still thought she was annoying even after I began to consider her a friend. She had saved my life, and I hadn't done anything to help her.

Gaara's knuckles were turning white from the tight grip his other hand had on his sword. I turned into him and rubbed his back with long strokes, crying all the while into his chest. His arms came up around me, and we mourned together for some time.

Beyond the cliff, the sun was dipping below the horizon, streaking the surface of the raging river with color. I stepped away from Gaara and removed one of the lasting flowers from my hair; a white chrysanthemum. The petals were drooping a bit, but it still managed to hold onto its vibrant white coloring and delicate shaping.

I held it up in those last rays of sunshine letting it fall down into the river. It fell slowly through the air like a feather, but flitted quickly on the water's surface. I followed the chrysanthemum's progress down the river until it caught on something.

I looked closer and saw that it appeared to be a leg. I followed the leg up and saw that the body it belonged to was caught in the brambles along the bank. I watched carefully, but detected no movement besides the hair pulling in the current.

I tugged once on Gaara's arm and pointed.

"Look, it's her."


	38. The Albatross About my Neck was Hung

**Chapter 37: The Albatross About my Neck was Hung  
**_(In which the Princess recalls something she thought she'd forgotten forever)_

"Where?" Sakura asked. Suigetsu had pulled her along with Haya to the cliff side, but, when she had showed no intention of fleeing, had let her move over to the edge and peer down.

"Along the bank, tangled in those brambles," I pointed. "You see that tree that looks like it was hit by lightning?"

"She's not moving," Sasuke said, squinting against the setting sun.

"She could still be fine," I said, feeling a desperate hope rise in my chest that hadn't been able to catch hold until I saw her. My father had survived his supposed death, why couldn't Matsuri? "She could have survived the fall, couldn't she have? Sakura?"

Sakura hesitated, and I could tell that she didn't want to give me false hope, "It is possible, that the impact didn't kill her, yes. But, the water looks rocky. The chances of landing on a rock, of her drowning, or the force of hitting the surface being too much are greater than the chance of her surviving."

"I see," I said quietly. The chrysanthemum broke free from the tangles around Matsuri's legs and floated on down the river. When I could see it no longer, I asked, "How do we get to her?"

"There's a bridge up there," Suigetsu said, pointing with his free hand at a small wooden structure spanning the river further up stream.

"We'd better hurry," I backed away from the ledge. "It'll be difficult to find her once darkness falls."

"No," Sasuke said. I turned and looked back at him. "No, you need to go back to the castle."

"But, I want to go, too," I sent a pleading look to Gaara. He shook his head, agreeing with Sasuke. If I hadn't felt so lightheaded, I would have put up a greater fight. Instead I sighed and let them lead me away from the cliff edge.

We didn't go back to that horrible clearing, but instead further south where three horses were tied up. One was Leiko. He whickered a greeting to me, and I patted his nose affectionately, glad for his friendly face.

I leaned against Leiko, running my fingers through his long mane, while the others discussed who would go after Matsuri and who would return to the castle with me. It was decided that Suigetsu, Haya, Sasuke, and I would return to the castle, bringing two of the horses with us. Once I was safely back at Osaka Castle, Sasuke would see to it that Haya was under guard and then return back to the clearing to get Tero and then to the river with another horse. Sakura was staying with Gaara to have a look at Matsuri.

Using strips from her underskirt, Sakura bandaged me up quickly so I wouldn't bleed out on the trip back and waved us off. I watched them get smaller and smaller in the distance and wished I had more of a chance to talk to Gaara. To ask him how he's been, what happened with him and his father, and how he had managed to get back in time to help me.

When the pair was swallowed up by the forest, I turned forward and rested my forehead on Sasuke's back, feeling to weary to hold myself up. I don't know how long I slept, but it was completely dark when I woke up. I guessed that it was early morning, meaning that I'd probably been asleep for hours.

I sat up and winced at the soreness in my cramped muscles from sitting in one attitude for too long. Moving also brought pain from the burns on my legs and arms. Why couldn't Suigetsu have been gentler if he'd been on our side all along?

Remembering my questions I cleared my throat and asked, "Sasuke, do you feel like telling me what happened? How you and Gaara got to the forest?"

"You go first," Sasuke said. I could hear the tiredness in his voice and remembered that he'd been up all night while I had slept.

"Okay," I licked my lips and turned my head in a more comfortable position and began to tell the story. The new angle put Haya in my view. She was tied like a bundle to the back of Suigetsu's saddle, and it reminded me of the time with Akatsuki. I couldn't quite make myself feel bad for her. She saw me looking and bared her teeth at me.

When I finished, I waited expectantly for him to start his story. When he hadn't said anything for several minutes, I prompted, "Well?"

Sasuke nodded at Suigetsu, who took the hint and spurred his horse. When he and Haya were out of hearing range, Sasuke started, "The day that we went to the beach, I noticed that we were being trailed."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to tip the follower off or worry you. So I waited until we got back, then investigated and discovered that he was a stable hand. After following him around for a bit, I saw that he was reporting back to Haya," Sasuke said.

"Haya's been keeping tabs on us all along. Lady Karin has truly created the perfect spy," I said.

"Not completely perfect, because she made Lord Suigetsu upset. Suigetsu is allied with Lady Karin, though loosely, but Haya mistreated him and he also didn't want to cross me by hurting someone that I…care for. He's allied closer to me than he'd like. I saved his life once, so he owes me. And, he knows my forces are greater than his. Not too long after I found out about the stable hand, Suigetsu approached me and told me about what was going on with Haya. We couldn't do much yet, because we didn't have proof of anything except that she followed people around.

"And, Haya is good with manipulating people, so it would be better for us to catch her red handed. After we decided this, I sent a messenger after Lord Gaara. He was surprisingly close, I don't know why. I thought he'd be back in Marugame," Sasuke said. "And, you know the rest. If only we had shown up sooner…."

"Yeah," I said, and the conversation ended awkwardly in silence. Sasuke spurred Leiko to catch up with Suigetsu.

At the castle we were greeted by Lord Naruto and what looked to be about a hundred of his troops. His brow wrinkled when we moved closer and he asked, "Where's Sakura? She's not…dead?"

Lady Hinata shot him an odd look that was gone and smoothed over before I could interpret it.

"No," Sasuke answered, helping me dismount. "She stayed back to have a look at Matsuri. She was injured badly."

I gave his hand a thankful squeeze before relinquishing it and being pulled into Temari's motherly hug, glad that he had said injured badly instead of saying that she was probably dead.

Temari fretted over me, smoothing down my hair and examining all the rug burns Sakura had left uncovered. I felt guilty receiving this attention. I pulled away and asked, "Where's my father?"

"He's talking with other servants to see if there are any others who were with Haya. Lord Inoichi is good at getting them to talk," Kankurou answered.

I nodded and watched as Haya was pulled off the horse and brought down to the dungeons by Suigetsu and ten guards. I didn't notice when Sasuke came up behind me and jumped when he put a hand on my shoulder, "You need to go rest."

"I want to wait until Matsuri gets here," I said.

"No," Sasuke said. He pushed me back towards Temari, "Make sure she rests."

I wrinkled my nose at his coddling behavior, but allowed myself, for what had to be the fifth time, be pulled away. I followed Temari without complaint back to our rooms. She forced me to promise to sit until she returned.

And, then I was alone.

I don't want to be alone, not with this heavy load of guilt on my shoulders. I want someone to distract me, keep me from mulling. I considered going to the door and calling for a maid to keep me company until Temari returned, but my limbs weren't making much of an effort to listen to me.

So, I stared at the bedroom wall and mulled.

"Ino?"

Temari was standing in the doorway with a maid carrying bandage rolls and a pack of medical supplies. The look she gave me was one of deep concern. Kneeling in front of me, she studied my face and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

The concerned look remained on her face as she waved the maid over. When she moved closer I saw that it was Megumi. I hadn't seen her in a while, as she'd been busy taking care of Keitaro. She helped me to stand and said, "Let's get you washed up."

An hour or so later I was all washed and bandaged up, sitting back on the bed. Temari sat behind me and brushed my hair. There was a smear on the wall. It was small and brownish, and I thought maybe it was a speck of old blood.

When I stared at it for too long, it would go out of focus so that it was barely discernable from the surrounding wall.

Temari finished braiding my hair and patted my back, "You get some rest. I'll be back to check on you later."

I caught her arm before she could leave, "Will you come and get me when they return?"

"Yes," Temari promised, then slipped out the door.

I think she expected me to sleep. But, I'd slept all the way back to the castle, and felt wide awake. My muscles felt stiff from sitting for so long, so I stood and paced.

"Please be okay," I whispered, pacing in a long elliptical around the room. I imagined that if I kept walking, eventually I would wear away the stone of the floor and the dirt, until I reached the center of the world. In the time it took for that to happen, would I be able to forgive myself?

I paused momentarily in my pacing. _Not likely._ I returned to pacing. When I moved past the smear on the wall, I glared at it. It seemed to be getting bigger each time I passed. That wasn't possible, was it?

Soon it was the size of a dinner plate and I couldn't rationalize the change in size anymore. Leaning out into the hallway, I called for a servant. An elderly man, who must have been quite strong in his prime judging by the square of his jaw and heavy set of his shoulders, answered my call.

I pointed at the growing smear on the wall, "Could you remove this mark? It's bothering me."

"There's nothing there, Lady," the servant said, his concerned gaze flickering between me and the spot I was indicating with an index finger. I was really growing tired of the concerned looks I was receiving lately.

"Oh, I'm sorry for taking up your time then," I said. The elderly servant cast one more glance at the wall, as if hoping that he would see something that he wash and put me more at ease, and then left with a bow.

I fell back on my bed and stared at the smear again until Temari returned.

She put a hand to my forehead and said, "You don't have a fever. That's good."

I sat up carefully to keep from antagonize my wounds and scooted to the edge of the bed, "Are they back?"

"Yes," another voice said.

I startled and saw Gaara standing in the doorway. He looked worn out and disheveled, but he managed a slight smile.

"Gaara!" I ran across the room and jumped into his arms. He caught me easily and pushed my bangs out of my face and behind my ear. I looked at him closely; he didn't seem to be mourning. I took that as a good sign. "Matsuri…?"

"She's…well, you'd better come with me," Gaara said.

I hooked my arm through Temari's, and we followed Gaara through several hallways and up a flight of stairs until we were in the hall that held Lady Hinata's rooms. We passed several doors, stopping in front of the last door in the corridor.

I felt sick to my stomach, knowing that this was the moment when I would see Matsuri and know her condition. Staring at the wide door, a strong urge to flee rose up in me, and I had to tighten my grip on Temari's arm to keep myself from submitting to the feeling.

Gaara opened the door, revealing a room embroidered with beautiful purple fabric and gold stitching. The furniture was carved from heavy, dark wood, with rich fabrics cushioning the seats. In the center of the room was a large bed that filled most of the room. Lying supine on the bed was a small woman, dwarfed by the immense size of the room.

Gaara stepped out of the way and Temari let go of my arm, letting me go ahead. I sat beside the bed and clasped my shaking hands. I studied Matsuri and saw that her chest was rising. I nearly fainted with relief.

"She's…she's okay," I sighed, falling back in the chair. "She is…isn't she?"

"She's unconscious," Gaara said. "She woke up for a few seconds on the ride back, but then fell back into her coma."

"Oh," I said.

"Sakura said there's a possibility she might still wake up and stay awake," Temari said.

"Oh," I said again.

"We'll leave and let you be alone with her," Temari said, ushering Gaara out and shutting the door behind the two of them.

I was alone again. Alone, with the personification of my guilt lying within arm's length, hardly hanging on to life. I opened my mouth to say something to her, but my throat was too dry and my tongue seemed to be swollen, so I closed it without speaking.

What would I have said anyway? I'm sorry that I let you die? I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough? No. Some things were better left unsaid.

I shifted in the chair and watched her like I watched the spot. She didn't grow or move or change in anyway, no matter how much I wished she would sit up and smile that expressive smile of hers. Or, caution me for slouching, telling me that her grandmother said it led to a hump in the neck. Or, asking me how we'd made it out alright.

I touched her arm briefly before pulling away, afraid that my hand would go through and prove her to be an illusion. I was so afraid that this was a dream of mine. That I was still back in the room, waiting for Temari to return with the bandages and I had fallen asleep. That this was wishful thinking of mine, that she was only asleep, but on the mend.

After three times of quickly touching her arm, I was convinced that I was indeed touching her skin and that though it was a bit clammy, it wasn't corpse cold. Encouraged, I laid my hand on hers and stroked her skin with my thumb.

Not knowing what to do or say, I sat like that for a long time. I don't know how long, but the light from the window dimmed a considerable amount, so I would guess it was hours that I sat there. Occasionally a maid would come in and check on the two of us. But, no visitors came. I wondered what everyone was up to.

"You know," I ventured, the light outside had faded so much that the last maid had lit candles before leaving, "you're lucky to be given this room. It's beautiful."

I smoothed her hair down, "You still have a couple of flowers in your hair."

"I'm really sorry for everything that happened. I'm older than you, I should have been strong enough to protect you. They didn't even want to hurt you, really. It's all my fault. I should have gone to Sasuke or Gaara, instead of thinking we could take care of it ourselves," I said, my voice breaking with an involuntary sob. "I'm so sorry, Matsuri."

The tears made my eyes tired. I rested my head next to her arm, thinking that I didn't want to be apart from her, even in the time it took for me to sleep. I had nearly slipped away into the realm of dreams when I heard, "Ino?..."

The voice was raspy. I looked up and saw Matsuri looking back at me.

"Matsuri!" I said, bolting straight up in my chair.

"You're okay? I'm so glad…," she said. She looked around, "I'm thirsty."

I helped her drink from a glass a maid had left on the elaborate side table. When she had drained it all she fell back against her pillow with a content sigh.

"I'm sorry I was so quiet earlier…I was just discouraged. You…Sakura said you were in love…," Matsuri broke off, her eyebrows furrowing. "I…I can't feel my legs. Ino, why can't I feel my legs? I can't move them!"

She frantically ripped the blanket from her body and started smacking her legs, "I can see them, but it's like they're not there!"

Her voice grew louder and more hysteric. Several maids flooded the room and I realized they weren't just maids, but nurses. They pushed me out, leaving me standing by myself outside the door. I stood there, listening to Matsuri's sobbing and the nurses' hushed tones until Gaara showed up with Sakura.

"Ino, what's going on?" Gaara asked. I could tell that Sakura was already in her professional medic mode by her stance and the firmness in her expression. She seemed anxious to be inside with Matsuri, but I was hesitant to let them pass.

"Matsuri woke up, but can't feel her legs," I said. Nodding my head towards Sakura, I asked, "Can we trust her?"

"We won't leave her alone with Matsuri and have her supervised constantly," Gaara said. "I don't like it any more than you do, but she's the best nurse anyone knows excepting Lady Tsunade."

I shrugged and moved out of the way, letting Sakura enter. Gaara stayed outside with me.

"I missed you," I said.

"I missed you, too," he said.

My knees started quaking, feeling too weak to hold me up, so I leaned against the wall.

"Have you eaten anything today?" Gaara asked, noticing my sudden shakiness.

I shook my head, "No, I haven't been able to stomach anything."

"You should try again," Gaara said, leading me to the kitchen. The meal had already ended, but the kitchen servants were just now eating, scarfing down dinner scraps mixed into a thick soup. They stopped and stood suddenly, shocked to see a lord and a lady enter into a work room at this time of night.

Gaara asked for a small meal for me, and they had it finished and passed to me before he completed the sentence. I took the bowl gratefully, eating with more hunger than I realized I had. When the meal was finished, we left the kitchen and headed back up to my chambers.

The walk back was silent. Gaara kept glancing at me, as if worried that I would suddenly start fatally bleeding, or reveal some sort of life threatening wound that hadn't been apparent before. The attention was…nice.

I reached over and caught his hand in mine. He didn't pull away, so we arrived at my rooms with hands intertwined. I wish my heart was free to feel as light and happy as it wanted to. I paused in front of my door, not wanting to leave when I had just gotten to see Gaara after so long.

Gaara pushed my bangs out of my face again, this time letting his hand trail down the side of my cheek, careful to keep clear of the bandaged cut. He studied my face as if he never wanted to look away. I felt a sob stick in my throat, though whether it was a happy or sad one, I didn't know. Overwhelmed, I buried my face in his chest, and closed my eyes while he rubbed my back.

I wanted to tell him that I loved him, but the time didn't seem right, so I held back.

He opened my door and helped me into bed, tucking the blankets tight around my neck. I could tell from the awkwardness in his hands that no one had ever done this for him before, and he was guessing on what the situation called him to do. He promised to come get me if there were any developments in Matsuri's situation, and I made a silent promise to give him the affection he'd missed out on all these years.

I must have really needed comfort, because I dreamed of my mother that night. She sat next to the window overlooking the castle garden that she tended personally. It had been her favorite spot when she was alive, and it was common to find her there, reading or playing an instrument. When she noticed me, she called me over. I ran to her and snuggled on her lap while she ran her fingers through my hair and hummed.

The tune she hummed was familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. My dream self didn't bother to try and figure it out, knowing that my wakeful self would mull it over and eventually discover where I recognized it from, instead, leaning back into my mother's fingers and enjoying the rare moment I got to spend with her.

It wasn't until I nearly finished eating breakfast the next day that I realized it was the lullaby my mother used to sing to me, that I couldn't remember in my time with the Akatsuki.


	39. Learning to be Happy

**Chapter 38: Learning to Be Happy Again**

_(In which the Princess tries to remember what it means to be happy)_**  
**

The soft drumming of the rain on the shelter roof was soothing. I closed my eyes and leaned back to enjoy it better. Back in Kumamoto, I remember sitting out on the balcony and letting the rain wash away the discontentment on my skin and feeling refreshed afterwards.

Could the rain wash away other feelings? I extended one cupped hand outside of the safety of the shelter to catch the droplets.

"Adam's Needle for a friend in need." I opened my eyes and saw my father sitting beside me. How long he'd been there, I didn't know. He pointed to the flower bouquet gathered beside me on the bench, "Sweet Alyssum for worth beyond beauty and Freesia for friendship and innocence. All very good choices."

I shook my hand and wiped it against my skirt. No. The feelings were still there. My father patted my hand and said, "Just like your mother, you know? She was simply genius with forming the most beautiful and meaningful bouquets."

"Thank you," I said, glad to be like her in any way.

"Did I ever tell you about how I fell in love with her?" he asked.

I sat up straighter, feeling a good story coming. "No, you haven't."

"My friend Hiroto had invited me over for hunting in the vast wooded region on his lands. He had the best hunting, really. We often would return home with three or four good sized stags. Well, I think it was on the fifth night that I saw her. We were coming back up the path and happened to pass by the garden while she was out there. She was singing while tending some of the plants.

"Hiroto and I stopped to listen. Not only was her voice sweet, but the lyrics were beautiful as well. She was embarrassed when she noticed us listening. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me that she was singing to the flowers so that they would grow stronger and brighter.

"I then asked her which was her favorite and she pointed to the cosmos, telling me that they meant peaceful. After that night, we went hunting for another five nights, and I always made a point to stop by and talk to her. She would tell me about various flower meanings and how she had designed her little garden.

"I was only originally going to stay with Hiroto for a fortnight, but I extended my stay to a month. After we finished hunting, I would ride up to her garden, pretending that I was only happening to pass that way, and stay and talk with her. When I knew I couldn't possibly stay with Hiroto any longer without being outright rude, I brought her a bouquet of flowers.

"When I hadn't been talking with her, I had been researching flowers more. She knew so much about them already, so I had to be careful in my selection to give her the right message. I ended up picking some forget-me-nots, white larkspur, white balsam, and one large pink camellia. You know what those mean, don't you?"

"Remember me always, faithfulness, ardent love, and…longing for you. Larkspur is a tricky one, though. It can mean faithfulness or fickleness," I answered.

He laughed, his eyes looking past me and into the memory, "She told me that. I thought I had been so careful. But, I'll never forget the look on her face when she took the bouquet and gazed up at me…"

We were both quiet for a moment, with only the sound of the pattering rain between us. A tear slipped silently down my father's cheek, and I hugged him tightly.

"I went up to the castle that night and asked for her hand in marriage. Her father had been considering another marriage proposal for her and was preparing to accept it the next day. When he saw how happy his daughter was with me, he forgot all about the other man and gave his assent to us. It was the perfect timing."

He pulled away and lifted my chin to meet his eyes, "There is sometimes…a fear that things won't work out. I didn't let it hold me back and because of that, I married the most wonderful woman I have ever met."

My father kissed my forehead, "You've grown up so much, honey. But, I don't think your new reserved personality you've been wearing lately is because of that. I just want you to be happy."

"I don't know if I can," I said, watching the plants bow under the weight of the rain.

"You have to learn to be happy again," he said, leaving me to think about his words. I watched him run to the castle door, the rain soaking him in the time it took to reach the doorway.

Had he just given me permission to be with Gaara?

I laid down on the bench and closed my eyes again, listening to the drumming rain and thinking about what it meant to be happy.

.o0o.

Take a deep breath. Knock on the door.

"Come in."

I open the door and peer in, seeing that I am the only visitor. The window is open, catching a light breeze now that the rain has stopped. A slant of sunlight slices across one wall of the room. Matsuri is sitting up on her bed. When her eyes met mine, she set her book down and said, "I was wondering when you'd visit."

"I didn't want to interrupt the nurses," I said. I put the flower vase on the table next to her, "I brought you some flowers."

"I see. They're beautiful," she said.

"What did the nurses say? Can you move your legs again?" After shifting the flowers into the best arrangement possible, I sat next to the bed and took her hand in mine.

She squeezed my hand and said, "The nurses didn't say much of anything. But, Sakura told me that I might never be able to use my legs again."

I frowned deeply, "I don't trust Sakura one bit."

"She's an expert, Ino. Even if she was on the wrong side, what would she gain by lying about this?" Matsuri asked. My expression must have been that of extreme doubt, because she squeezed my hand again, "And, she apologized, Ino. She said that when she made the alliance with Karin, she had been desperate. She loves Sasuke and was afraid that you would take him away from her."

"I don't think I would ever kill someone I consider a friend over a man."

"You've never been in that position," Matsuri said. "You don't know the pain."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have to worry about the person you love loving someone else," Matsuri answered, her brow furrowed. "The pain is…hard to put into words."

"Matsuri…"

"I think you've figured it out by now, haven't you? I'm in love with Gaara, but he has only eyes for you," Matsuri said sadly, but not bitterly.

At a loss for words, I looked out the window. I was glad to hear that Gaara liked me, though I wasn't always so certain he did, but I wasn't so glad to hear that I had won his affection at her expense.

"That's what I was trying to tell you yesterday. Why I was so quiet when we were captured. I wasn't afraid," Matsuri said. "Ino, look at me."

I turned and met her eyes. Her expression was earnest, "I don't want you to feel guilty. It's not your fault that you love him and that he loves you back. I know that a person can't control their feelings. So, don't hold back. Promise me you won't let the opportunity pass? If you lose him…now, that would be your fault."

"I promise." I smiled and looked back out the window. "It's beautiful outside now that the rain has stopped. Want to go out?"

"…I can't use my legs."

"So?"

.o0o.

We sat on the edge of the pond, with our feet dangling in the water while we watched the flamingoes feed and bicker.

"Can you feel the water?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

"No," she says, swirling her finger in the water. "I can't feel the wind, my clothes, nothing."

"What's it like?"

"Very strange."

.o0o.

After having two people I respect a lot pushing me to act on my feelings with Gaara, I was apprehensive about seeing him at supper. There was so much build up, I was afraid that I would chicken out and let them down.

When I sat at the table, he wasn't there. I was right at Lord Naruto's side. I guess being placed in the seat of highest honor was one of his ways of making it up to me. After the meal began, he leaned over and asked, "How are you?"

"I'm good. Is Matsuri not going to be joining us tonight? And, where's Gaara?"

"Sak-…the nurses recommended that she stay in the room," Naruto answered. "As for Gaara, I don't know. He took his supper early."

I tried to not show my disappointment. "Is there some way for Matsuri to be more mobile? I know the _nurses_ said that she should stay in her room, but I think she doesn't like being stuck in that room by herself, waiting for visitors."

Naruto looked thoughtful. "I think we could look into that."

The meal was a long, good one. The rolls the servants brought out were my favorite, the kind that melted in your mouth and made you close your eyes to concentrate on the taste. I would miss these rolls when we returned back to the castle. The castle that Gaara said he would visit someday.

I made up my mind to go find him after supper. When the meal finally finished, I courteously said my good nights and then slipped out of the dining hall before I could be caught in someone's conversation.

It was late. My shadow stretched long, flickering between in front of me and behind me as I passed the lanterns lighting the hallways. When I reached Gaara's room, I saw light under his door and the shadow of him pacing to and fro.

Hesitant to disturb him if he were in the middle of something, I waited in front of the door. After a few moments of deliberating, I lifted my hand to knock. Before my hand could hit the wood of the door, it was opened to show a tired looking Gaara.

He jumped and stared at me frozen with my hand still posed in the air. I lowered it slowly and said, "Gaara. You weren't at supper."

"No," he rubbed his eyes.

"Why not?" I asked.

He sighed. A tired sigh, not an annoyed one, I think. "Come in."

I followed him into his room, well aware that this was the first time I had been invited in. I looked around and noted that it was very…simple. Unlike the other rooms, that had beautiful adornments and strong, rich backgrounds, his was white with little decoration. Everything in the room was there for a purpose it served, nothing in excess.

Gaara noted my wandering eyes and said, "I don't need that much. Naruto has designed this room for me."

"Ah," I said, settling carefully on a desk chair. He remained standing, leaning against a dark wooden dresser. I wished he would remain closer. "Naruto told me you took your supper early. Have you been busy?"

He fiddled with the hem of his jacket. "I've been given a tough decision."

"What's that?"

"Naruto asked me what should be done with Haya and Sakura."

I stood up at the sound of Haya's name. One day wasn't nearly long enough for me to forget Matsuri's numb legs or the burns and cuts covering my body. "Haya deserves…she deserves…the most painful thing. I can't think of anything that would be bad enough to punish her!"

I felt a restless energy and took to stalking and punching my own fist. I felt vengeful. I wanted her to pay for what happened to Matsuri.

"Ino."

I looked back at Gaara, once again noticing the weariness in his expression.

"Revenge isn't nearly as nice as it seems," he said.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I thought about Sasuke and his brother. He killed him and now would spend the rest of his life regretting it. Even if Haya was a horrible person, I couldn't stoop to her level, no matter how badly I wanted to.

I slumped back into the desk chair, "So, he's delegated this problem to you."

"He trusts my opinion. Naruto is too close to the situation to decide on an unbiased solution," Gaara said in his defense. "He was in love with Sakura. He could very well still be in love."

"Didn't he marry Hinata as soon as he regained his rightful place as King?" I asked, distracted from the problem at hand by this mystery.

"Yes," Gaara said, "but before he could get the throne back, he had to rise up a supporting army. No matter what his claim on the throne, he still had to make sure he wouldn't be silently taken care of. Sakura and Sasuke were among those who supported him. That's why they're so close, they've fought together. More than once."

"Sakura fights?"

"She heals."

I took this in. That explained the look Hinata gave Naruto. It was hard to wrap my brain around. Naruto in love with Sakura? She was so violent to him. And, he was married. With two children. And, the looks he gave his wife were that of complete devotion.

"What a burdening decision," I said with a sigh.

"I don't think they should be executed," he said after a moment.

I nodded. "Karin is the real criminal here, anyway. That leaves imprisonment?"

"There are many other punishment options. But, it isn't that simple. Both are princesses of different Kingdoms."

"What can be done, then?"

"It can't be denied that Haya's behavior was very criminal, but Sakura was not only repentant afterwards, but extremely hesitant throughout. I don't think she should be excused, but this should be noted." He paused and rubbed his eyes again, "I think we may have to execute Haya."

"You should talk about it with more people," I said, moving closer to him. "I don't know nearly enough to give any advice, and I think that this decision shouldn't be left to one person. There's too much guilt in that."

"I will," Gaara said, watching my advance with curious eyes. "In the morning. It's too late now."

"Yes," I said, standing in front of him. We were so close, I could feel the heat of his body. "It was unfair to leave the decision to you alone, in the first place."

"Hm," Gaara agreed, his eyes running over my face. I took a half step so that our bodies were barely touching. Then he spoke up again, "I don't think I was the most unbiased person to ask."

"What do you mean?" I took his hand and laced my fingers through his.

"When I saw how much Haya had hurt you…I had never wanted to kill someone more in my life."

He leaned in closer, his lips only inches from mine. "I don't want to see you in pain ever again."

With a happy grin, I closed the distance between us and kissed him hard on the lips. I took Temari's advice and dropped his hand to thread my own through his hair, and his arms came up around me, crushing my body to his. It didn't hurt so much as it was pleasant.

I never wanted it to end, but soon the need for air became too strong and we had to break the kiss. Breathing heavily, he trailed kisses down my neck and back up to my mouth again. His fingers brushed against the cut on my cheek and I involuntarily winced.

"Sorry," he said between kisses, and I pulled him closer to show that I forgave him.

Then, there was a knock at the door. We jumped apart guiltily.

"Gaara? Can I talk to you?"

It was Kankurou. Gaara looked to me and I just gave a reluctant nod. Settling back on the desk chair, I watched him cross the room and open the door for Kankurou.

"I had an idea for getting Matsuri around, look at this picture…" he said, pointing at a book page and then trailing off when he noticed me. "Ino, what're you doing here?"

"I was just talking with Gaara, but now I'm leaving," I said. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

I left the room and walked calmly and coolly back to my room.

Once the door was shut, however, I twirled in a victory dance and gave a celebratory whoop.

Whatever it meant to be happy again, I think I was on the right track.


	40. Breaking the Habit

**Chapter 39: Breaking the Habit**_  
(In which the Princess's burden is lightened) _**  
**

"Matsuri, I brought you breakfast," I sang out, bringing in two bowls of cold soup made from tomatoes. It was one of Lady Hinata's favorite meals, reminding her of the hot summer mornings of her childhood. Not that she ever said as much, but Naruto explained this to me when I asked why we had the tomato soup so often.

She smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Ino. I appreciate you stopping by to see me. I'm sick of sitting."

We both paused, considering the irony of the situation. I wondered if it were acceptable to laugh. Matsuri cracked a grin that was permission enough, and soon we were laughing uncontrollably. I was glad to see a happy expression on her face and I felt the load of guilt lighten a small amount.

Matsuri wiped away a tear and struggled to catch her breath, "It feels good to laugh."

"I agree," I said.

She looked out the window. "I never realized how much I would miss something like walking, but I just want the freedom to go where I wish."

I smoothed the wrinkles in her bed lining, wishing I could smooth those in her forehead, "We'll figure something out soon, Matsuri. I promise."

"I hate seeing that expression on your face," she said. "It's not your fault. I wanted to help you. You would have helped me if you were in my place."

I stared at my hands.

"Ino, stop blaming yourself!" she shouted in sudden anger.

"How can I? Your life has been changed forever, and I'm perfectly healthy!" I shouted back, feeling defensive. "I can't control how I feel about that!"

"Did you force me to attack Haya?"

"No."

"Did you force me to run or Suigetsu to chase me?"

"No."

"Did you cause those rocks to break away from the cliff?"

"No."

"So, you didn't have control over any of the situation?" she asked, looking satisfied as she leaned back against her pillows.

"It's not that easy. You know it's not," I said, standing up and turning towards the wall. "We wouldn't have even been in the clearing if Karin hadn't sent Haya after me."

"And that was under your control?" Matsuri asked.

I growled in frustration, "You don't understand! Even if it wasn't under my control, it was my fault! If you had never met me, you would still be healthy."

"I don't regret meeting you," Matsuri said.

I let the silence fall over us and stared at the wall. I wanted to leave. I didn't want to talk about this anymore. My hand twitched in the direction of the door, giving away my intentions.

"Don't leave," Matsuri said. "Come here."

I hesitated.

"Ino, it wouldn't be fair. I can't chase after you."

Crying, I returned back to the chair. "I'm so sorry! I'm so so so sorry! It should have been me! I hate myself!"

"I forgive you," she said.

I sniffed and rubbed my eyes. It was strange how those three words could cause lightness in my chest.

Matsuri kept talking in a soothing voice, "It's not all that bad. I now get to be escorted where ever I like and don't have to break a sweat. Whenever I travel, I'll get to ride in fancy carriages and I'll never be forced to go on foot."

The more I cried, the lighter my chest and shoulders felt. The guilt didn't go away completely, it would always be there, but it was more bearable now.

"I can make my throne transportable and be regal everywhere that I go. I now have the reputation as a survivor. I'll be respected as a strong person who can recover from even the worst conditions. I'll never have to worry about aching feet again. I can delegate jobs with more reason now."

"You don't ever have to worry about not having a chair if there isn't enough," I added with a shaky smile.

"Exactly!" She looked so happy that I finally started to believe that maybe everything really would be okay. "I know talking about that was hard, but it was like this giant thing looming over us. I had to confront you about it otherwise it'd always be there, threatening to become too heavy and crush you."

"Thank you, Matsuri. You're such a great friend," I said. More and more often I considered how much I didn't deserve her, especially when I remembered the mean thoughts I would sometimes have regarding her.

"One thing I'm curious about is…what happened after I fell?" she asked.

Matsuri leaned forward, listening carefully as I told her about the shock and the events that happened afterward. When I finished telling her she said, "Well, that Haya is just a despicable person. I wonder what's going to be done with her."

"Well, Naruto has basically left the decision to Gaara. He's afraid he'd be too biased in the situation and punish them unjustly."

"Them?"

"Haya and Sakura."

Her forehead wrinkled with her thoughtful frown, "That's right. What's he thinking of doing? Execution? Haya definitely deserves it…but I don't think Sakura does."

"We don't think Haya should be executed either. Her actions were very bad, but also desperate. I don't think she felt she had a choice." I sighed, "I understand Naruto's hesitance to make the decision himself, but he shouldn't have placed all the responsibility on Gaara."

"Gaara isn't exactly an unbiased person to ask, either," Matsuri said. "We've been friends from an early age and he's head over heels in love with you."

Her words reminded me of the kiss last night. I smiled to myself, thinking about how much better this kiss was from the first one before he left.

Matsuri noticed with a growing grin, "What's with that smile? Is it about Gaara?"

I shrugged, not knowing how much I was allowed to share before I was being insensitive. I didn't really want to talk about it. I liked keeping it between him and me, it made it feel all the more intimate and…wait a minute.

I stood up suddenly, the thought just now dawning on me.

"Matsuri, I have to go. I'll be back later and I'll explain everything. Right now I have to go see something."

"Bring me something to do when you come back!" she called after me.

"I will," I shut the door and rushed down the hall.

I nearly had a run in with a servant hauling water buckets, but managed to make it across the castle in one piece. Running down the hall Gaara's room was in, I passed by a mirror. I stopped and returned to look at my reflection.

My eyes were a bit pink from crying, but the simple hair twist the maids had done for me this morning was still in place and still very pretty. I leaned in observed every aspect of my appearance until I was satisfied and made my way down the rest of the hall. I stood in front of his door, listening for any sign that someone was inside.

I didn't hear anything. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I took a few calming breaths, not wanting to get all worked up needlessly. Maybe he just wasn't in his room. He might be still down at breakfast. Sometimes, people would linger long after the meal was finished to start their day with some good, laid back conversation.

I turned to go check the dining hall when the door creaked open, "Ino?"

Gaara stood in the open doorway, his hair messier than usual and his cheeks still rough with stubble. I felt weak with relief.

"You're still here," I said.

He blinked, "Yes."

I hugged him tightly, resting my head against his chest. I loved that I no longer had to control my urges to touch him. "You usually disappear after I kiss you."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be. I'm just glad you didn't this time," I said. I looked up at him and saw that he seemed more worn out then last night. "Did you get any sleep at all last night?"

He rubbed his chin, "No. I don't sleep very well, but it's been worse lately."

"I think I know something that can help you," I said, pulling back and following him back into his room. "When my mother was sick, it was hard for her to sleep. My father said she was afraid that she would fall asleep and never wake back up. But, she needed to sleep if she wanted any chances to heal, so the nurse would message her temples with Lavender oil an hour or so before she needed to sleep and it worked."

"Why an hour before?"

"Massaging stimulates the circulation of the blood, so it is harder to fall asleep right after, but if you wait an hour it'll help a great deal."

"Hm," he said. "Come look at this."

"I can try massaging your temples tonight to see if it helps," I said, leaning over the desk to peer at the piece of paper he was pointing at. There were several figures in long columns. "What is it?"

"I thought about it some more, and I think the best option is to fine Sakura. She'll have to pay reparations to you, Matsuri, and Naruto. We'll hold her here as a prisoner until the entire sum is paid," Gaara explained.

"Will Haya be fined, too?" I asked, noting the high prices Sakura was going to have to pay.

"No," Gaara said, "Karin wouldn't pay anything."

"That's true," I said.

"I'm going to tell Naruto that I can't make the decision."

"I think that would be the best," I said. I noticed his sword hung on the wall. I picked it up and unsheathed it, running my finger along the flat of the blade. I experimentally swung it a couple of times and returned it.

I turned to see him watching me, "You've gotten better. Your motions are much more fluid."

"Thank you," I said. "I practiced with Sasuke while you were gone."

"You trained with him?"

"No, but we did spar," I answered. I rocked onto my tip toes, "Do you want to spar now? It's been a while since I've practiced. I don't want to get rusty."

Gaara smiled slightly as if I had said a joke. I nudged him with my elbow, "What's that look for, huh?"

"You talk like you're a seasoned warrior," he said.

"I am," I said, jokingly puffing out my chest and pointing to a healing burn on my wrist. "You see this wound? I got it twenty years ago in the great war, defending my people."

He shook his head.

"What? You don't believe me? You dare challenge my legend?" I said, hooking my arm through his. "Get your sword and meet me at the training grounds! I will defend my honor!"

Gaara looked at a loss for words, but took his sword and allowed me to pull him out of the room and then out of the castle. Outside it was blindingly bright, hurting my eyes until they adjusted to the new lighting conditions.

Gaara held his sword in the air, "Why did you tell me to grab this. I won't spar with you using a real sword."

"Why not? I might have been able to protect myself better back in the clearing with Haya if I had more experience sparring with the real deal," I said.

"No," Gaara said, crossing his arms and looking stern.

I clenched my fists, "How am I supposed to get better if you don't let me! You're always so overprotective."

"Ino, I said no," he repeated.

"But –"

"The last time I sparred someone with a real sword, I killed him," Gaara said, looking away, his expression suddenly closed.

I clamped my mouth shut, remembering sitting around the fire and listening to Temari's explanation.

"_When Gaara surpassed Baki, he accidentally killed him during their spar."_

I only knew him as he is now; I had forgotten what she had said he'd been like when he was still a tortured soul.

"Gaara…I'm sorry…I didn't mean…I'll go get the wooden swords," I stumbled over my words. I felt lousy the whole way to the rack holding the swords and back. When I returned, Gaara's expression was softer again.

"Take your spot," he said.

I did. Holding my wooden sword up, I smiled and said, "Maybe you can work out some of your frustration."

He nodded, and the fight started. Even now, fighting Gaara was instructional. He led me through stances and motions effortlessly. I didn't realize at first, but after the third arc of my sword, I realized that these were actions I had practiced when Gaara introduced me to fighting.

We both worked up a nice sweat and the fight ended when Gaara knocked my sword aside and tapped my heart lightly with the tip. He took my wooden sword and returned them to the rack.

When we were walking back into the castle again, Gaara pointed at the white shell on my necklace and said, "That's new."

I touched it, "Yes, I went to the beach with Sasuke."

"You spent a lot of time with Sasuke while I was gone." It was a statement.

I shrugged, "He promised to take me there when we were kids, and he followed through on his promise."

He nodded again and I saw the warning signs of one of those infamous Gaara silences, so I slipped my hand in his and pulled him away from the castle and to the garden. The garden was one of my very favorite places at the castle. No matter where I was geographically, I always felt like I was home surrounded by flowers. I also felt my mother's presence.

I released his arm and plopped down on the lush grass near the flamingo pond. We laid down, our heads and shoulders touching as we peered up at the clouds. Feeling peaceful beyond words, I turned to him and asked, "Will you tell me something that no one knows about you?"

Gaara tilted his head to meet my gaze. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, like he didn't know what to say.

"I want to know you better," I said. "Here, I'll go first. When I was six, my tutor warned me about climbing on the shelves in the hall outside my room. I didn't listen very well at that age. I still have the shards from the vase I broke hidden in my room back home."

I twirled a blonde lock around my finger, watching the thoughtful look on his face.

"When I think of my mother…I imagine her as a flower."

.o0o.

I ran my hand along the wall. No spot. I could have sworn this was the room they brought me to after I returned. I checked all the walls. No spots on any of them. Confused, I sank down onto the bed.

"Knock, knock," my father said, poking his head into the room.

"Hey, Father," I said.

"Honey," he sat down next to me on the bed and patted my hand, "I know you aren't too excited about returning home, but I can't stay away much longer. I need to go back and ready the troops."

"Oh," I said. "But, I don't want to leave Matsuri."

"Hm, you two are pretty close friends now, aren't you?" he said. "You could invite her to stay with us at the castle."

"She would have to ask permission from her family…"

"That would take time, huh?"

"And, we wouldn't want her to travel to our castle all by herself…"

"That wouldn't be good, would it?"

"We also wouldn't want her to be lonely here while she waited for the reply from her family…"

"I think, if you want to stay here longer, you would have to ask Lord Naruto. It is his castle."

"So, you give your permission?"

"I suppose."

"Good! Lord Naruto already invited me to stay longer!"

My father's expression was comical. I kissed his cheek and skipped out of the room.

"I feel like I've been tricked."


	41. Dreaded Farewells

**Chapter 40: Dreaded Farewells  
**_(In which the Princess, well, you know, says her farewells)_

**Awesome Fact: This story just reached 200 reviews. Thanks for everyone who reviews, I really enjoy them! :)  
Interesting Fact: This story was originally going to be a DeidaraInoGaara love triangle story. Crazy, huh?  
Little Known Fact: Also dope on ze mic.**

I stretched my arms over my head, sighing as I fell back against the headboard of Gaara's bed. For the past two weeks, I had been stopping by Gaara's room nightly to massage his temples and then talk to him for the following hour until he fell asleep. He claimed to be sleeping better because of it, and he definitely looked for the better, the dark bruises ever-present under his eyes were shrinking.

"I love you," I whispered to him, wishing I had the guts to say it to him when he was awake. As a Yamanaka, I was not lacking in the least in the department of confidence or willpower, but no matter how hard I tried to tell him, I couldn't. I would open my mouth to tell him and it would dry suddenly like I hadn't drank water for months and all the words would scramble in my brain. It was frustrating.

Sighing again, I looked away from his attractive features and cast my gaze around the room. Hanging on the wall opposite his bed, there was a long mirror. It was odd, maybe, but I guess it makes sense. Even men have to ensure that their clothes are all orderly. And, I suspected that Gaara always dressed himself.

I could see myself from the vantage on the bed, and I leaned forward to better look at the cut Haya had so graciously left on my cheek. It no longer needed a bandage, the time of two weeks healing it mostly. All that was left was a thin line. I had hope that maybe it wouldn't scar, but fade away completely.

Many other things happened in the two weeks since my father told me he was returning. He had left, Sakura had been fined, Kankurou had constructed a moving chair for Matsuri, and Haya had been tortured for information on Karin and the war. Gaara hadn't made the order – I had finally convinced him that it was too much of a burden for him to deal with alone – and there was nothing we could do about that. What was to be done with her now…we didn't know. And, maybe I didn't want to know.

And, tomorrow, I would be leaving with Matsuri to return to my castle at long last. I was looking forward to it slightly, because I did miss Shikamaru a little bit and the familiarity of my own room and clothing, but I was definitely going to miss Osaka. Over my extended stay here, it had really started to feel like home.

I wondered if I would ever get the chance to come back to this magical land where the weather was beautiful and the flowers bloomed all year long.

Sasuke was returning back with us. My father didn't want us to travel with soldiers he didn't know, so he entrusted our care to him. Sasuke was heading in that direction anyway, returning to his own kingdom that lay in the same vicinity as mine.

I glanced down at Gaara again and wondered if he would be going with me, too. I hadn't asked him about it yet, and he hadn't said anything about it. I would have asked him right away, but I got the feeling that when he came back during the Haya issue he had been interrupted during something important. I owed so much to him already, I didn't want to guilt him into accompanying us if he had more pressing things to do. Sasuke would have to do.

I would miss him dearly. Thinking about it already gave me a tight sensation in my chest, and he was but inches away from me. I wondered when he would visit. And, how often. And, when would he ask for my hand in marriage? Was that getting too ahead of myself? He loved me…right?

My eyes felt heavy with sleepiness. I knew I ought to head back to my own chambers for it was way past when I usually left. Gaara had already been asleep for a while. I studied him again, deciding it would be fine to stay for just a little while longer and committing his face to memory.

His bed was so comfortable. When I blinked, I had to consciously remind myself to open my eyes back up again. I put up a valiant fight but, against better judgment, I eventually fell asleep next to Gaara on the mattress.

The next morning was the bright sort, where the morning sun shone in and stabbed those who were sleeping in the eyes straight through their eyelids. I sat up slowly and jumped at the sight of Gaara sitting at his little table. I had forgotten where I was for a moment.

"Good morning," Gaara said without looking up from his papers.

"Good morning. I fell asleep on accident…," I said by way of explaining. He didn't respond, the only sound in the room was the scratching of his quill on the paper. I wondered if he didn't know what to say back, or if he thought the statement didn't require an answer. "Are you coming with me today?"

Gaara put the papers he was working on away and gestured for me to come. I climbed out of the bed, fixing my hair along the way, and perched on the edge of his desk. His back was straight in his chair and I admired how he was always in control, but I couldn't help but want to see him lose his cool for me once.

"You're not."

"No," Gaara answered, a sigh in his voice. "I have things I need to take care of."

"I understand," I said, playing with the ends of my hair. I understood, but I couldn't stop the tightness I felt in my chest once again. I was so used to having him within reach whenever I wanted to see him, of being able to bury myself in his arms, that I couldn't imagine going back to my lonely castle and back to being by myself.

Reminded of my limited time with him, I slipped off the desk and pulled him up so he was standing. His arms wrapped easily around me, the warmth of his fingers seeping through my dress on the small of my back.

I tilted my head back to look at his face, "Will you visit as soon as you can?"

There was a tender glint in his eyes and his breath was warm on my cheek when he leaned near and said, "Yes."

"I'm going to miss you," I said, smiling faintly.

He returned the smile, his mouth curling up just barely at the edges. What would it take to get him to full out smile? I pressed my face against his neck, feeling oddly like laughing and crying at the same time. I was going to miss him _so_ much.

"I'm going to miss you, too."

"I hate saying goodbye."

"I know. I'm sorry."

I took a deep breath, "Gaara, I l…I ought to get back to my room."

"We'll have to get you out of here without raising suspicion and ruining your reputation."

"Yeah, we'll have to figure something out," I said distractedly, inwardly cursing myself for being so cowardly.

.o0o.

"Are you ready?"

Matsuri was already sitting in the carriage Naruto had provided for us, waiting for me, her head tilted to the side in sync with her question. With the help of Megumi, I had changed quickly in Gaara's room and left, appearing that I had just been visiting him in the morning. The mousy-haired maid didn't say anything, but she gave me an appraising look. I assured her that the night I had spent with Gaara had been entirely accidental and innocent.

The rest of the morning had passed in a blur of packing and farewells, and now I stood next to the carriage with Matsuri's question hanging in the air.

I didn't turn to her immediately, allowing my eyes to wander over the castle proudly nestled in the valley. Understanding that things never truly lasted, and that I might never have a chance to return to this beautiful place, I wanted to burn this last image in my brain so I could return to it in the coldest winter months.

The tall wooden doors, the two guards who stood stiffly on the stairs, the training grounds, the stables, the lush and vast garden, the noisy flamingoes, the door on the side shaded by an orange tree…I didn't want those things to fade from my memory.

I was tempted to grab my pack and tell them all that, no, I would rather just stay here. Maybe Lord Naruto would trade Kingdoms with me. He could be closer to his good friend Sasuke's main residence and I would be near the sea. It would be a fair trade, right?

Come to think of it, I would be closer to Gaara, too. Marugame was further South, in the opposite direction of my home. Such a long distance. I wanted to be close to Temari and Kankurou, too. They were coming along with Matsuri and I – so that they could return with Matsuri when her visit was up – but they would eventually go home. Then when would I see them again?

The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced I had to stay. I couldn't leave, I just couldn't. I hadn't been as happy as I was here since before my mother died. Here I had been free. Here I had been able to let go of my insecurities. Here I had met some of the best friends I've ever had.

Sure the good memories were a bit tainted by Haya's attack and Sakura's betrayal, but the attachment to this place was still strong and I couldn't leave.

I finally turned to Matsuri to tell her this. To make her understand. But, her eyes were big and her eyebrows raised expectantly. I thought about my father alone at the breakfast table. And, Shikamaru sitting on my balcony with a book in his lap, staring past the castle walls while listening to my thoughts. And, the kind, elderly maid who brushed my hair and took in my clothes with a tender expression.

Gaara said he would visit me. He promised. And, Temari and Kankurou would come back and visit often. I just knew they would. I would make sure to extend their stay for as long as I possibly could. Also, my father should be letting my out of the castle again...a freedom I haven't enjoyed since I was much younger.

As quickly as I had convinced myself that I had to stay, I reminded myself that I had a home waiting for me. I waved one last time at Naruto and Lady Hinata. Hiro stood on his tiptoes and shouted his farewell to me for what had to be the fortieth time, waving frantically all the while. I smiled and wondered if it were too late to stow him in my pack and take him back with me.

Finally, I stepped up into the carriage and settled across from Matsuri. Temari climbed in after, glad for being able to avoid riding a horse back, and took her seat next to me. The men were already mounted on their horses waiting patiently to leave. Kankurou leaned over and rapped the wooden door with his knuckles once for luck and then we were off.

I touched my hand to the rings hanging from my necklace and watched the castle shrink between the curtains on the small carriage window.

"Yes. I'm ready."


	42. Let us Look to the Future

**Chapter 41: Let us Look to the Future  
**_(In which the Princess is thrown for a loop and things aren't as secure as she thought)_

**Note: Longer Chapter this time to make up for the shortness of the last one.  
*Resists urge to insert another Rap Battle quote…I love those things***

Outside of the carriage, the sky tinged with pink as the sun drifted lazily downwards. Big fat clouds that resembled great clumps of wool freshly shorn hung low in the air, looking white and pure and harmless, and moving slowly on the wind.

I pressed my face to the small window and watched the trees pass by. Out of boredom, I attempted to count them, but gave up after losing my place and having to restart several times. Without the aid of currents and sails, our trip was going much slower than the first and I was quickly losing my tolerance for the swaying wooden box that seemed more and more everyday to be a moving prison.

"We'll be stopping soon, I think," Temari observed, sitting stiffly next to me and rubbing her neck. I was glad that I wasn't the only one tiring of sitting in one attitude for so long and so often. Muttering, she added, "Thank goodness."

The darkness outside deepened so that everything passing by became bland and boring so I returned my attention back to my company in the car. My eyes falling on Temari, I was once again struck by the fact that she didn't look much like Gaara at all. Gaara. My thoughts were always turning back to him.

If only he were here.

Then I wouldn't have to just think about him, I could talk to him and hold him and kiss him, too.

I sighed, and Temari's expression suggested that she knew what I was silently mourning. Out of habit I tensed, ready for her to start lecturing me about how I was in denial about Gaara not loving me, but then remembered that I had already told her about the kiss.

"I don't know how I can be so tired when I haven't moved about hardly at all today, but I am thoroughly exhausted," I commiserated.

Temari nodded in agreement, "That is the way travel is."

Across from us, Matsuri was already asleep, her head falling to the side. We watched in fascination as it slipped a bit too far and her head shot back up, only for her to drift off again. This repeated several times and, because of our boredom, I imagine, took a long time to stop being adorably amusing.

When we stopped for the night, the carriage lurched to a stop, rudely startling Matsuri out of her slumber. The girl looked about confusedly for several minutes before noticing the growing smirks we attempted to hide behind our hands.

"What?" she demanded, a bit grouchy from her sudden awakening.

"Nothing," Temari and I answered as one, proving perfectly that something indeed was up. We then shared a look and burst out into laughter.

"We…we were just wa- haha…watching you…sleep," I struggled to answer between heaves of laughter.

Matsuri pouted, "What? Did I say something embarrassing?"

I managed to control my laughter and transferred seats so that I was sitting next to her. I pinched both of her cheeks and crooned, "You were just so adorable, we were spell bound!"

"Knock it off," Matsuri said, smacking my hands away and rubbing the blossoming red spots on her cheeks.

"Sorry," Temari said, not sounding sorry in the least. Since the trip had began, we had taken to teasing and pranking each other mercilessly just for something to do. We were bored to tears otherwise, and it quickly became a mistake to let your guard down for even a moment unless one secured the assistance of one of the males in the company.

The last time I had neglected to ask Sasuke or Kankurou to keep an eye out for me, I had woken up with my hair knotted to some tree roots. It was okay, though. I had waited for Temari in a tree with a bucket of cold water a couple of days later and soaked her to the bone on her way back from washing up.

The carriage door opened to reveal Kankurou, his shoulders slumped tiredly, but his eyes glinted with animation. "What are you ladies waiting for?"

"We were waiting for the men to set the camp up and then carry us to our seats. We are royalty after all," I teased. Once in that attitude, it was hard to return to seriousness.

His grin turned mischievous and I instantly regretted my words. With a clap of his hands, us women were draped over the shoulders of three guards like a sack of potatoes and dropped unceremoniously on the ground around the fire. Or, I should say, that we were dropped roughly, but Matsuri was lowered down carefully. Kankurou had become fiercely protective of the small brunette since the incident and the men wouldn't dare harm her, especially after he shoved Temari into the river when she had played at tipping Matsuri's chair to frighten her.

Poor Temari. Our pranks tended to end with her soaked.

I laughed at the thought and Kankurou's guard went up. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me, probably wondering if the men would be caught up in the game as well. They wouldn't of course. We had considered pranking them in the beginning, but recognized that we had enough on our hands just keeping an eye on each other. We didn't really need to add men with their manly senses of humor to our worries when we closed our eyes at night or wandered on errands alone.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked, his eyes narrowing more so that they were mere slits.

I laughed again at this face and said, "No reason…Hey, would you tell a story?"

His suspicion melted away at my request and he tapped his chin while searching his mental archives for a story to tell. I settled into a more comfortable position on the ground and happily awaited his tale. It'd been so long since he'd told one.

I could tell when he picked one, because his whole demeanor changed. He stepped closer to the fire and began the story in a theatrical voice, ignoring Temari when she rolled her eyes.

"Back when humans were new and the gods still lived among the mortals our ancestors had two heads, four legs, and four arms. After a while, our ancestors became arrogant and boastful, believing that they were stronger and better than the gods.

"Zeus saw that the humans were indeed growing stronger and feared that if he left their arrogance unchecked, our ancestors would eventually grow more powerful than the gods. As a punishment for their overreaching ambitions for greatness, the thunderbolt god took the humans and tore them apart.

"All of our ancestors became two beings, each with their own head and pair of legs and arms. Because of this split, the human is constantly searching for its other half to become one complete being again."

When he spoke of the unending search for the completion of the human form, his eyes slipped to look at Matsuri. I sat up straighter, alert. Kankurou…looking at Matsuri…with interest? Had he told this story for her, to subtly share his feelings? Why hadn't I noticed this before?

Speaking of noticing things, I noticed something else.

"Kankurou!" I complained loudly, feeling robbed. "That story was much too short!"

He laughed, "I'll tell another one, then."

"You had better," I said.

Sasuke stood up and retrieved his bow, "I'm going to hunt."

We all nodded appreciatively, glad for any break from the stale bread and cheese we brought along with us. He slipped away into the forest and I turned my attention back to Kankurou, who settled down by the fire.

He rubbed his hands together, "Alright, Ino, here's another one. A long, long, very long time ago, there were two cities. These cities were called Sodom and Gomorrah. They had fallen from grace and all of the citizens were evil.

"God was disgusted by their behavior and came to Abraham, a godly man who lived nearby, and told him that he planned to destroy both of the sinful and criminal cities. Abraham's nephew's family lived in Sodom, so he begged God to give the cities a chance if they could find enough good people dwelling peacefully within the city.

"God agreed to this and said that if ten good people lived in the city, he would not destroy it. Then, two angels went to Sodom to see if any such people existed. They found Abraham's nephew, Lot, and his family. Lot was a righteous man like his uncle, but he was put in danger by living among sin, because sin doesn't only hurt the person committing it, but those who surround him or her.

"The angels saw that Lot was a good man, so when they failed to find any other good person within the city and several men of the city came to Lot's house demanding him to let them meet the handsome strangers, they decided to save him and his family.

"Lot attempted to defend the angels from the…er…bedroom intentions the men had by offering his two unwed daughters to the gathering crowd. The angels put a stop to this and told Lot that he and his family must run and not look back.

"Leaving all of their possessions behind, they fled the doomed city. They were nearly out the gates when Lot's wife chanced a look behind her. The thought of losing all of her worldy possessions and leaving her home behind was hard for her to swallow and she looked back to see these things one more time. But, the angels had warned her not to look back, and her feet froze in place, turning to salt. Her legs turned to salt, then her torso and arms, then her face…and so Lot's wife became a pillar of salt.

"No one else in the family looked back, and after they escaped fire and sulphur rained down from the heavens to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah."

There was a silence following Kankurou's story. He folded his arms and stared into the fire. I tried to see the meaning in the story.

The first person to break the silence was Temari, "Why couldn't they look back?"

"I think it is because they were supposed to leave the sin behind without regret. Looking back would be like…temptation to return to that lifestyle," Kankurou said.

"It would be hard to resist looking back," I acknowledged and several of the men around the fire nodded. "Being told not to would make it even harder."

"Yes, that is true," Kankurou said.

Temari stood, interrupting the somber moment, and went to the carriage. She returned with glasses and a bottle of wine that Lord Naruto had sent with us as a gift. With much gusto she raised the bottle high in the air and said, "Then, let us look to the future instead of the past!"

The atmosphere changed almost immediately.

We cheered and held our hands out for the glasses. She filled and passed the glasses around and continued her facetious speech, "Let us forget our past failures and the comfort of our beds! Don't look back to lost battles and lose heart in the midst of combat! Don't look back longingly for the warmth of the hearth fire and regret leaving it and living life!"

We cheered again and Matsuri said, "Hear, hear!"

I went to take a drink and began choking when it burned the way down. This was unlike any wine I've ever had. It felt like my mouth was on fire, though it tasted like wood. Coughing, I asked, "What…what is this?"

Temari's grin was catlike, "Oh, I must have given you whisky instead of wine. My mistake."

Matsuri quickly put down her full glass, afraid that Temari had targeted her, too.

Realizing I had been had, I pouted. Kankurou handed me his water flask and I washed the disgusting flavor from my mouth. "That's just mean, Temari."

I would get her back.

For the rest of the evening, I declined any glass passed to me and watched my company get drunker and drunker with each passing minute. It was amusing. Temari continued her speech, but she didn't make much sense anymore.

Kankurou sat down next to me, wiping the dirt from his pants. He was the only one who decided to remain sober with me, saying something about how someone had to be fit to protect the camp should anything happen. We watched Matsuri supervise the pouring of her third glass of wine.

"You like Matsuri," I said without any preamble.

Kankurou spluttered as he choked on his own spit in surprise, "What gives you that idea?"

"Well, your reaction just now," I said, smugly, "and, when you were telling the first story, you looked at her."

"So what?" Kankurou asked, clearly in denial.

"It wasn't just that you looked at her, but how and when you did. You're smitten, I can tell," I said. I felt like Temari, and I understood why she tortured me so often about Gaara. It was fun.

"No, I don't like her. She's always been intended for Gaara," Kankurou said wistfully. My smile faltered. He noticed and hastened to rectify what he had said, "I mean she was always after him. Her eyes never look my way."

"Her attention is bound to turn to you if you do something about it," I said, encouragingly. I could already see the two of them together in my mind's eye, and I thoroughly approved. I quoted Temari, holding a fisted hand up in the firelight dramatically, "_Don't look back to lost battles and lose heart in the midst of combat!_"

We both laughed and Kankurou said, "Hear, hear." Then, as an afterthought he added, "I'm not saying that I like her."

"But, you're also not saying that you don't," I pointed out.

Kankurou acted like he didn't hear me and joined in a chorus of a drinking song. I rolled my eyes at him and let him be for now. I really understood Temari a lot better now.

A while later, Sasuke returned from his hunt empty handed. He stopped just within the light of the fire and wrinkled his nose. "You're all drunk?"

"Yes!" one of the men sang out. Normally they were intimidated by the _great warrior_ Sasuke, but wine had loosened his tongue. I knew from seeing my father drink that many of the company would have horrible headaches the next morning.

"That's enough for tonight, get to bed," Sasuke growled, grouchy from his unsuccessful venture.

"Come now, Sasuke, don't be sour. They were just having some fun, and we aren't all drunk," I tutted.

"No, just most of you," he said. He turned a glaring eye on the men, "If any of you think you'll have time to recover in the morning, you're sorely mistaken. We're leaving at the same time as normal."

I smiled at their groans as they shuffled to the tents and lay down to sleep off the alcohol, not seeming to notice that they hadn't eaten supper yet. I noticed, and I went to the carriage and brought back bread and cheese for those of us who remained around the fire. That consisted of Kankurou, Temari, Sasuke, Matsuri, and me.

We ate and then everyone went to bed excluding Sasuke and me. He stared into the fire and then said, "You and Kankurou were the only ones who didn't drink."

"Temari gave me whisky, and I had no desire to drink after that," I said. He gave me a look and I explained, "It was to get back at me for dumping a bucket of water on her."

"Ah," he said.

I rested my head on my hand and leaned closer to the fire. It wasn't alive, but sometimes it appeared to have a mind and will, the way it danced around and how the sparks found purchase.

"Ino," Sasuke said. I turned to look at him and saw that he seemed hesitant.

Curious I asked, "Yes?"

"Do you remember when we were younger? And, I promised to take you to see the ocean at my Aunt's castle?"

"Yes, I do remember that. You said we'd swim all day and collect shells."

He seemed happy that I remembered those details, "Would you like to live there?"

"What are you asking?" I asked, frowning.

"You know that I inherited Shimabara from my aunt, right? If you married me, it would be my present to you," he said.

"Sasuke…," I started, but he continued.

"We could stay at Nakatsu near your father during the summer and at Shimabara in the winter. You'll never have to suffer the cold again, and we could go down to the beach every morning and eat iced deserts. You could make hundreds of shell necklaces and wear a new one each day of the year. Temari and Matsuri could visit whenever they'd like and stay until they grow tired of us."

I listened to him with a sad smile. All of these things were appealing and may have been a dream come true before, but now it wasn't the future I wanted. Any future without a certain redhead wasn't one that I could truly be happy in.

As gently as I could, I said, "Sasuke…I love Gaara."

He clenched his fist, "It'll never happen. You can't ever be with him."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, you're still engaged to Lord Shino," he said.

I frowned, wondering where he found the nerve to point this out when he had just asked my hand in marriage himself, "My father told me it would be fine. He encouraged me."

"He wasn't talking about Gaara," he said.

"Yeah, he was," I insisted.

Sasuke crossed his arms, "What were his exact words?"

"He said there is sometimes a fear that things won't work out…," I said, realizing with a sinking feeling that he never said or indicated that he was talking about Gaara. "That he didn't let it hold him back when he married my mother and that he just wanted me to be happy again."

"He was talking about me, Ino," Sasuke said. "I could break your engagement to Lord Shino because I had claim on you first. Our mothers promised us to each other when we were infants. He thinks you love me and that I could be the one to make you happy."

I put my hand to my mouth, overwhelmed and dismayed with this information. It had been perfect and I had been so happy, only to find out that it was a misunderstanding.

"Your choices are either Lord Shino or me. You could be with a complete stranger, or you could be with me, Ino, whom you've known your entire life. I would do anything to make you happy. I love you, Ino," Sasuke said, his eyes heated. "Please, choose me."

I considered, thinking about the situation I was trapped in. If I were to marry Sasuke, then I would have a chance at being close to my father and the ocean. Marrying him was secure, when marrying Shino wasn't and marrying Gaara might not even happen. I could probably learn to be happy…but…no, I couldn't. I could only pretend to be happy. I had already given my heart to Gaara, and there was no looking back now. My decision had already been made.

"I…I can't," I said. I couldn't help the tears that gathered in my eyes and spilled over.

He took my shoulders in his hands and shook me, "You have to, or you'll marry Lord Shino!"

I went limp in his grip, burying my face in my hands. "I can't…I won't."

"Ino…"

"No! I can't be happy with anyone else!"

Sasuke stood up quickly, "You could never love me?"

I shook my head. "Not as anything more than a brother."

He growled, looking angrier than I had ever seen him, and stalked off.

"Sasuke…," I called after him, but he ignored me. I let him go, thinking that maybe it was better that he left so he could cool off.

Alone by the fire, I was left to my tears and to wondering how things could have gone so bad in a matter of minutes.


	43. Fire

**Chapter 42: Fire  
**_(In which the Princess meets a new friend and an old one)_

I sat by the fire, accidentally dozing off several times waiting for Sasuke to return, until I worked up the motivation to drag myself to the tent. When I woke up the next morning to the sound of soldiers groaning and wondering aloud at how much trouble they were going to be in this morning, I found that Sasuke still hadn't returned.

We sat around the fire, the men and my two female friends had dark shadows under their eyes and looked as if they might be sick. Matsuri left several times throughout the course of the morning breakfast to throw up in the forest. Kankurou went with her, pushing the chair so she could cover her mouth. Still, Sasuke didn't return.

I grabbed my things to wash up and headed down towards the stream, starting to really worry about Sasuke. I would never forgive myself if something happened to him because of my rejection. I would never change my mind and marry Sasuke, but that didn't mean I didn't care for him.

I was nearly to the stream when Temari jumped out from behind a tree and sloshed a bucket of foul smelling river muck over the whole of me. I stood with a gaping mouth, still with shock and dripping with sludge. Temari's mouth was spread in a self-satisfied smirk that slipped off her face when she saw my tears.

"Ino?" she asked, taking a step toward me. She looked guilty. "I'm sorry. I know I already got you back last night, but I thought if I acted again before you got revenge, then I would catch you completely by surprise! I didn't mean to make you cry!"

I wailed loudly and fell into her waiting arms. Sasuke's desperate suit for my hand, his subsequent disappearance, and my concern of what my future held had already left me in a fragile state and Temari's prank had just been at the absolute worst time. I knew if there was anyone I could tell, it was her, so I started explaining the whole situation to her.

"I can't understand you, Ino," she said, her hold on me tightening despite the stinking muck getting on her dress. "I need you to calm down. Did something happen? Did one of the men try something?"

Temari rocked me soothingly, and soon I had calmed down to silent tears. I told her again about everything that had happened, the look on Sasuke's face, the passion in his words. The utter desolation I felt about my situation with Gaara. I even told her about Shino.

She listened to me closely, not saying anything until the whole story was out. When I finished, Temari took my elbow and steered me firmly to the river edge where she helped me to wash all of the muck from my clothes and hair.

Scrubbing my hair with sand, she asked quietly, "What if you married Lord Sasuke?"

I was silent for a minute, wondering why she would ask such a question when she knew that I was in love with Gaara. Didn't she want me to be with her brother? "I wouldn't be happy."

"But, you care about Lord Sasuke, right?" Temari continued. I tried to turn around to see her face but she snapped at me, "Hold still, would you?"

I swished my hands back and forth in the water, watching them when I answered, "Yeah, I do. I'm sure I could even become fond of him as a husband. But, the feelings I have for him are more platonic and nowhere near as strong as those I have for Gaara. I would only think of, dream of, and wish for Gaara, even if I could learn to be happy with Sasuke."

"Has Gaara asked you to marry him?" Temari asked.

I stiffened in surprise. I had wanted him to, but why should he have when I was still too afraid to tell him I loved him? I think he knows. No, I know he knows, just like I know he loves me. But, nothing compares to actually saying it. My tone a little sadder then I intended, I said, "No, he hasn't yet."

Temari paused in her scrubbing and put a hand to my cheek. "I'm sorry, Ino. I just don't want you to get hurt. Marrying Gaara is going to be very hard. Your father has two other guys lined up to marry you and my father would never allow anything that makes Gaara or any of us happy. Even if you don't marry either Lord Shino or Lord Sasuke, you might still not be able to marry Gaara. Then you'd be all alone."

"I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life than be with anyone besides Gaara," I said, tilting my head up stubbornly. Temari gave me a look of mingled admiration and pity before dumping water over my head.

We washed our dresses while we were wearing them and then climbed onto the bank to dry in the sun. When we got further North, it would start getting colder. I wasn't looking forward to that.

I turned to my side to face Temari, "Your father really wouldn't allow you to marry someone just because it would make you happy?"

"He likes control. If we are happy, then it is because of someone else and it is out of his control. If he can make us unhappy, then he is controlling our emotions. If he makes us hate him, makes us angry at him, it's because it's what he wants. Those are feelings he can cause and manipulate on his own accord," Temari said with a heavy sigh. That explained why Temari's lover was only her lover. It also explained why they traveled a lot. I wouldn't want to be in the same castle with someone like that either.

Speaking of traveling, "How do you get permission to leave? Wouldn't traveling take you out of his sphere of control?"

"He likes to control us, but he doesn't like us around. We're annoying," Temari answered and I found myself more thankful for my father than I had ever been before. Sure, he had kept me locked inside the castle for several years and paraded suitors in front of me to take me far from home, but he did that out of love. "Anyways, he keeps tabs on us. He knows he has us under his thumb anyway. Kankurou and I are too cautious and obedient to disobey anything he says. I hate it, but we're not as brave as Gaara."

"Is that why he sends people to kill Gaara?" I asked. I shivered as I remembered when I had found the dead body of one of the assassins.

"Yes. Gaara is something new to him. He's not much used to resistance," Temari said.

"But, no one can beat Gaara," I said with pride.

Temari smiled and pointed up at the blue sky with a dramatic, sweeping gesture, "No one beneath this sky could dream of beating Gaara! My father can send who he wants!"

We both laughed and when our dresses were only a bit damp we returned to camp. I was in a much better mood now, smiling at the recovering soldiers. In the time that we'd been gone, Matsuri's stomach had settled down again, and she was leaning back in her chair with a relieved expression.

I looked at Temari out of the corner of my eye, "Hey, how come you don't look as bad as the others? You were barely coherent last night."

"Strong will. I've just been bearing the pain with a stiff upper lip. These men are all wimps," Temari said with a scoff.

I laughed and knocked my shoulder against hers.

The good moment was lost when Sasuke strode back into camp with a deer carcass slung over his shoulders. He dropped it by the fire and it hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Pointing a finger at the mouthy soldier from last night, he said, "Clean it."

Then, he disappeared into his tent without so much as a glance at me.

If I had been wondering if he would still be angry at me or if he would cool down over the course of the night, then I guess this was my answer. I looked to Temari for advice and she gave me a shove towards the tent.

"Hey, Sasuke…," I ventured, standing at the mouth of his tent. Inside I could hear him shifting through his things, probably packing up.

"I don't want to talk to you," he said.

"I'm sorry," I said.

The movement inside the tent stopped.

"Are you mocking me now?"

"What – mocking you? Why would I be doing that?" I asked, shocked that he thought I would act in such a way.

He didn't say anything and just returned to his packing.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry…that I can't like you that way," I continued, as if he hadn't just accused me. I kept my voice down so the company wouldn't overhear. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass him in front of his men. "I hope I didn't…lead you on…in any way. And, I hope that we could be friends still. You're like my brother I never had the fortune to possess."

I waited for a response, but when it became clear he wasn't planning on answering I couldn't keep the anger out of my tone when I said, "Fine, Sasuke. Be that way."

I stalked back to the carriage where Temari waited with a sympathetic expression.

Sasuke gave me the cold shoulder for the next two weeks. At meal times, even when I commented on something in a conversation he was participating in, he would continue as if I hadn't said anything at all. To him, it was like I didn't exist at all. The company watched on with hesitance, not sure what they should do during these interactions.

It was starting to get colder, when we came across the smoldering skeleton of a town. The fires had died down, but there was still smoke and heat rising off the metal foundations. I slipped out of the carriage despite Kankurou's order to stay put and stepped close to one of the bigger remnants.

Pulling my coat closer to me, I saw that there was a carving in one of the posts.

_Jiroto – I will never forget you._

Kankurou came up beside me, ready to scold me, when he saw the carving I was looking at intently. He touched the rough lines with his index finger.

"Search for survivors," Sasuke said. Settling his glaring gaze on me he said his first words to me in days, "Get back in the carriage."

I considered resisting out of annoyance, but I knew that I was likely to be a liability with no weapon, so I climbed back into the carriage. Temari and I pressed our faces to the window and watched as the soldiers spread out through the still warm ruins and looked for anyone still living.

"I hope no one was hurt," Matsuri whispered. Temari and I nodded in agreement, but I was thinking about the carving and the last time I had seen a burning village.

After twenty minutes of combing the surrounding area, a soldier reported back with a crying toddler who seemed to be the only survivor. The kid had wispy curls that prettily framed her delicate face and big hazel eyes she kept rubbing with chubby fists.

She couldn't be the only one who survived. I pushed out of the carriage and crouched in front of the young girl. She seemed relieved to see a female and was instantly attached to my skirts. I looked around at the grim faces of the company, "She can't be the only one. Maybe they fled to a close by town and she got separated from her mother?"

At the mention of her mother the girl broke into deep, heartbreaking sobs. I scooped her up and she shivered like a leaf in the wind in my arms. I turned to Sasuke, "Do you think it was…"

"It had to be the Akatsuki," Sasuke interrupted, easily following my train of thought. I frowned at his rudeness, but didn't say anything because, hey, he was talking to me again. "There is the possibility that they are in a neighboring village…but the Akatsuki might have attacked all in the area."

There was no might. They definitely had. It wasn't like the rogue group to leave any opportunity for gold untouched. I looked around at the company again and saw that they were all thinking along the same lines, but no one wanted to say so.

"Where is my father and his army? Aren't they supposed to be stopping them?" I asked.

"It takes time to move troops," Temari said, standing at my side now.

I gritted my teeth, "I hate that innocent people are getting hurt because of the Akatsuki's greed and the time it takes to make alliances!"

Temari gave me a meaningful look and I was reminded of one significant alliance relying on my engagement to Lord Shino. I ignored her with a stubborn head tilt, knowing that there must be something else keeping him in the fight, because my father had been confident it would all work out.

"We need to hurry," Kankurou said.

"We'll check nearby towns for survivors?" I pressed. My life had been saved because Gaara and his siblings happened to be nearby, I wanted to give any of those nearby the same chance.

Sasuke scowled, "The longer we take to join the war, the more innocent people are going to be injured."

"Could we at least keep an eye out while we travel and check villages we come across?" I pleaded.

Kankurou and Sasuke shared a glance before Kankurou said, "We aren't heartless. Of course we will."

"But, we will be staying on our course with no detours," Sasuke added.

I nodded, not completely satisfied, but understanding. Temari and I returned to the carriage and the company was moving again. I tried asking the little girl her name, but she only balled my dress in her fists and cried for her mama. She finally dozed off with her head in my lap and I stroked her chocolate brown curls.

Over the following days the little girl was attached to my hip and, because she was only two or three and quiet, we took to calling her Youjo*.

We came across several burnt shells of villages and each time Youjo would cringe and hide her face in my side, leaving me to wonder what sort of horrors she had witnessed and if she would ever recover from them. We had yet to come across a town still intact and I began to fear that we were the only people left in the world.

It was about a week and a half from when we found Youjo that we stumbled into another village just as we were slowing down to find camp somewhere. There were still some fires burning, though they were smoldering low and close to snuffing out, indicating that we were catching on the Akatsuki's trail.

Once again the town was empty. The only sounds in the area were the crackling of the flames and the occasional falling object. I had a weird feeling tingling in my chest. I transferred Youjo to Matsuri's lap, grabbed my sword from beneath the bench, and was out in the city before either girl could object.

Sasuke and Kankurou were among those who were searching the town for anyone still alive, so there were no soldiers with enough weight to make sure I stayed put. They opened their mouths to protest, but I waved them off.

Traveling further into the smoke choked village, I clutched my sword so tight that my knuckles turned white and peered anxiously into each shadow. The ruins looked so much more ominous and grisly in the night.

I passed many half-burned down houses and saw evidence of scuffles and hasty leavings. Some of the people could be still alive, right? They could be refugees. My father and the others in the alliance would help rebuild these towns in their kingdoms and help the survivors settle down again, I was sure of it.

A rat darted out of a dark alley and nearly startled the life out of me. However, the relief I would normally have felt upon finding it had only been a rat didn't come. My long-healed rib throbbed in warning, and I knew he was there before he spoke.

"Did you miss me, Honey-dear?"

"Deidara."

_*Youjo: Little girl, foster girl_


	44. Confrontation

**Chapter 43: Confrontation  
**_(In which the Princess faces Deidara)  
_

**Note: I hope you guys enjoy this. I'm feeling pretty self conscious all of a sudden. :/**

But, thank you so much for all of your awesome reviews!

"Of course you missed me, otherwise you wouldn't have come to find me tonight, huh," Deidara said, as if I knew he'd be there.

I remembered the tingling in my chest and the compulsion to leave the carriage. I didn't know how to explain it...I didn't quite understand it myself. I started to say that I wasn't looking for him, but instead said, "Stop killing innocent people. Take me, the sole heir to my father's kingdom, instead. I will do whatever you want of me."

Kankurou and Sasuke were both no doubt far away and still clueless that I had left the carriage. Even though my situation was hopeless, I felt an odd sense of calm. The overwhelming fear from the last run in was strangely absent.

Deidara grinned cockily, "What makes you think you're worth so much?"

"I have the power to give you titles and positions. I could make you into a lord," I said, watching him closely to see if my words were swaying him. "Lord Deidara…you would like that, wouldn't you?"

He began to circle me, running his eyes over me. I straightened my back in attempt to suppress the inevitable shiver. "Look at you."

I frowned and shifted my grip on the sword hilt. Gaara had always instructed for me to wait for the other person to strike and to keep a clear head during battle, but Deidara's arrogance was making it extremely hard to control myself.

"Look at you," he said again. "Standing there with your nose in the air and a sword in your hand. And, that dress. Do you think you're some sort of Amazon?"

Since we'd been traveling, I had taken to wearing the dress I'd bought on the way to Osaka again. It held up nice and I loved the freedom of it. It wasn't exactly a dress I could wear once I was back in Kumamoto, so I took advantage of the time that I could.

"Do you think that you are offering me something I haven't been offered before? The Akatsuki are far ranged and greatly feared. I've been offered many positions and many women more beautiful than even you," he said, leering at me. If he stepped any closer, I would hit him no matter what Gaara always said.

"What sort of offer would you take, then?" I asked.

He stopped in his circling and studied me with a piercing gaze. "Make me a king."

I froze, understanding what that would mean. I would have to marry him and bear his children, and then probably be discarded, remembered only when needed. As a rogue, he didn't understand the politics of running a kingdom, and would probably spend a great deal of his time emptying our treasury on decorating his fingers and neck.

"If I made you a king you might stop, but the Akatsuki wouldn't," I said, "And, there's no guarantee you would stop, either."

"How would giving me a title as a lord make the whole Akatsuki stop?"

"I would give you all titles," I said, easily. "You all would be important voices in the matters of my kingdom. You would also be forgiven of your crimes."

Deidara spread his arms wide, "Why not make me a king and the rest lords? That would work, am I right?"

"I'm already engaged to be married," I said. Deidara stepped closer, and I held my sword up in warning, "Stay back."

He looked from my face to the sword and back, then burst out laughing. Irked by his laughter, I pointed the sword tip at his chest, "I know how to use this, I was trained."

"Ah," he said, clapping his hands with mirth. "I see why you are so brave this time. You think you can beat me. How cute."

"No."

"No?"

"I have no delusions that I can beat you. I haven't trained nearly as long as you," I said, maybe a bit too honestly. "I'm not afraid of you because I know that there are others who could beat you. You're the one who is afraid."

Deidara scoffed, "I've never been beaten. I'm still alive, aren't I? Defeat means death for a rogue."

"Then why are you confronting me and hiding from Kankurou and Sasuke? You know they could beat you," I said.

"You're mistaken," Deidara said. "You are the one who found me, I only stepped out to welcome you. As for _Sasuke_ and _Kankurou_," he said their names with a sneer, "they couldn't beat me. I haven't gone after them because it is you I want, not them. You owe me."

"Owe you? How?" I demanded. He made a move to step forward again, but I, remembering how he had choked me last time, retreated a few steps and lifted my sword again.

He pushed my sword down with his own and cornered me against a crumbling wall despite my efforts of keeping him away. He leaned close to my face, knowing full well how it would make me grit my teeth in anger and said, "Your father never paid your ransom. Also, when I went after you that one time, you lost me the opportunity of several raids. You took the rings that were rightfully pillaged by me. You owe me a great deal and I expect to be paid back in full, perhaps with interest."

I smacked his face hard. Gone was the girl who would cower in his glare. I was the young woman who had won the 'monster' Gaara's heart. I was Gaara's student. I was the crown princess of Kumamoto. I was the one who escaped by jumping in an overflowing river without the knowledge of swimming and lived to tell the tale. I defended myself against Haya, and was even winning, before help appeared. I was Ino, and I wouldn't embarrass myself by being fearful in the face of death.

I wasn't going down without a fight. I would die giving him hell.

"None of those things belong to you and they will never belong to you, you foul man," my voice shaking with rage. "If you don't take my offer of being a lord and having your crimes forgiven, then you are a fool. Get out of here."

To my great surprise, instead of retaliating, Deidara laughed. Not only laughed, but laughed obnoxiously, bent over and clutching his sides. I would much have rather he hit me back, and I think he realized this.

"I'm glad I stayed behind," he was still howling with laughter. "You are as entertaining as ever. Why would I leave? The show is just getting started, right? You know you can't afford for me to just go. I will only burn down more villages and when your father's army finally hunts us down, I will personally kill him."

"You won't touch him," I said, my voice tight with fear now. I couldn't lose him again. It would just be too much.

"I will. And, I'll make sure that his death is the most gruesome and painful. You won't even recognize him at the funeral, if I decide to leave anything for you to bury," Deidara said. I hated how he knew just how to act and what to say to crush me. He was my greatest enemy and I wondered if I would ever have the upper hand. "Shall I tell you what I'll do? Hm, I can see it now. I'll disarm him, and then I'll tie him up…Maybe I'll burn him alive…and the whole while he'll be crying for mercy…"

"Stop it." My body was shaking so much that if the broken wall wasn't supporting me, I probably would have sunk to the ground.

"Do you want to think about making me a king some more?" Deidara said. "It won't be so bad. I'll let you buy what you want and you would get to share your bed with me. I promise I won't have too many mistresses. I'll take good care of your people."

"I…," I started, not really sure how to finish that sentence. I didn't want to marry him. Really, being married to Deidara was one of the last things I wanted, somewhere far down on the list between being eaten alive by ants and being dragged down to hell. But, I remembered the disappointment of that boy all that time ago when I had first snuck out of the castle. Princesses had to make sacrifices for their kingdom. That was the payment for a life of luxury.

"She can't," From the shadows of a half-building came a voice I hadn't even allowed myself to hope to hear.

"Gaara," I whispered.

"She can't make you a king, because," Gaara said, stepping out of the shroud of shadows and into the light of the low burning fires surrounding us, "she's already engaged."

I paused a moment to take him in. It'd been a couple months since the last time I had seen him and he'd gotten rougher since then. His jaw had a shadow of stubble and his hair was longer so that it touched his collar. But, I didn't care about his worn appearance. With the fire playing behind him and throwing light over his face, I didn't think he had ever been more attractive to me. I hated Deidara for being there and ruining the moment of our reunion.

After my eyes had traveled hungrily over him the thought question of why he was here surfaced. I opened my mouth to ask, but was interrupted by Deidara.

"Just in time to be the hero," he said, grinning in a way that made me bristle. "I was wondering when you would finally catch up. We've heard rumors someone was tracking us."

In no mood for small talk, Gaara growled, "Step away from her."

I could see that Deidara was going to refuse and possibly make this a hostage situation so I struck before he had the chance to reply. Grabbing my wrist, I used the power of both my arms to elbow him hard in the gut. While he was reeling from the shock and pain of the attack, I tucked my head in and executed a perfect roll that I knew Gaara would be proud of.

It didn't take long for Deidara to recover, but I had already backed up clear of the fight by the time he had. I didn't want to distract Gaara or get in the way, so I hung back in the shadows he had just emerged from. Seeing that I was far out of his range, Deidara spat in my direction and said, "Wanton woman."

A man's pride really is something.

He didn't have time to say anything else cutting because Gaara disregarded the advice he'd drilled into my brain and lunged at the Akatsuki member. Their swords met in a loud, ear-ringing clang.

Deidara kicked at Gaara, but the red head brought his own knee up to block and then spun to forcefully swing his sword again, lower this time. A metallic crash resounded in the area as the swords clashed together once again.

The fight was almost like some bizarre song, with high pitched, off key notes ringing out often as their swords hit time and time again. They moved together impossibly in time, predicting what the other would do and reacting accordingly, so that their movements seemed choreographed. It was…beautiful.

I was awed and horrified at the same time. All it took was one wrong misstep and the dance would end.

Dragging his foot through the dirt, Gaara sent a cloud up into Deidara's face and then swept his feet out from under him. Deidara rolled back as soon as he hit the ground and stood up several paces back.

They paused to catch their breath for a moment, glaring and daring the other to make a move. Then, Deidara grinned cockily. I hated how it pulled up higher on one side then on the other in a way that if he had been someone else I would have considered charming.

"Do you believe you are the one she's to marry?" he asked. I knew where this was going and I closed my eyes, hoping that I was wrong. "Because, last I heard she was engaged to Lord Shino."

Gaara didn't look away from Deidara. He didn't shoot me a questioning glance, didn't ask any questions, didn't demand an explanation. But, I could see him stiffen and I knew he was hurt.

"I was, Gaara. I was going to marry him for an alliance. But, now I'm not," I said.

Deidara laughed, "Now she's not. She was also going to agree to marry me before you arrived, I could tell from her expression. How can you trust such a finicky woman?"

"I don't want to marry anyone but you, Gaara," I insisted, suppressing my tears. There was no way I was going to let myself become more of a distraction than Deidara was already making me. "What's your problem, Deidara? You know you're outmatched so you're trying to make him angry so he won't be able to fight with a clear mind?"

"I'm only making this more fun for me," he said, still wearing that detestable crooked grin. He stepped back into a battle stance and welcomed Gaara to resume the fight with a lazy gesture of his hand. "Perhaps he won't want to fight for you now that he knows you are such a loose woman."

Gaara had heard enough and lunged at Deidara again. I didn't understand at first, but I think he realized that if he didn't initiate the attack, Deidara was perfectly fine with standing and taunting. I covered my ears as Gaara's sword scraped its way up Deidara's, producing a jarring noise that made the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end.

Deidara attempted to maneuver away from the sword, but it slid up and cut into his forearm. He hollered and jumped away from Gaara, but it was too late. The blade had already gone in deep, and when he pulled back his arm hung limp and dripping by his side.

I covered my mouth with a small, horrified gasp when I realized that he had lost use of the limb. Gaara's sword must have cut into an important tendon. Normally this would have meant that the fight had ended, since he could no longer use his sword arm, but he took the sword up in his other and grinned.

"I used to fight with two swords," Deidara said, swinging back into the fight.

Fortunately, while he had trained to use both arms, the left was clearly his inferior one. He caught and parried the swings a lot later than he had been and barely had time to return the favor. Gaara pushed his blade closer and closer to Deidara's body, making him back up towards the same crumbling wall that I had been cornered in earlier.

Cheered that Gaara had gained the upper hand and happily awaiting the ending of the fight and hopefully my problems, I should have known that something would happen. It would be too easy for Gaara to win right now, fate simply wouldn't allow it.

And, because fate simply wouldn't allow it, it brought in a major distraction that threw a wrench in Gaara's victory. That major distraction was Temari, rushing out from through the smoldering alley, calling my name.

I tried to warn her, but she saw the fighting pair too late, and Deidara had a sword to her throat before any of us could utter a cry. There was sudden stillness. A pin drop could have been heard in the resulting silence.

"Look what we've got here," Deidara said. I wondered if people were born evil, or if life conditioned them into monsters.

"Let her go," I said.

"Ask nicely," he said.

I dug my nails into my palms in attempt to cool my temper, "Please, don't hurt her. Let her go. _Please_."

"Get down on your knees and beg," Deidara said, ignoring Gaara and watching me with a pleased expression. When I hesitated, he pressed the blade harder against the skin of her neck. She whimpered and I immediately fell to my knees.

"Please, please, please, let her go," I said, wondering why people liked to see me grovel so much. Was I that proud that it brought them so much pleasure? Or, was it just something that typically happened in these sort of situations. I would have to ask Shikamaru when I see him. That is…if I make it out alive.

Still back in the alley, I noticed a small group of guards. They didn't dare move in case Deidara hurt Temari. I spread my arms out on the ground and bowed my head to Deidara in a gesture of supreme submission. "_Please_."

"No," he said tersely and pushed her towards a fire. This is a calculated move on his part because he knew that Gaara would leap for her and he knew that this would leave the red head wide open. Before I even had a chance to get up, he extended his arm and stabbed Gaara in the side.

Gaara and Temari fell away from the fire, but Gaara didn't get back up. Seeing red, I scooped up my sword and sprang at Deidara. My attack caught him by surprise and I scratched him across the back. He hissed in pain before shoving me off.

"Get out of here! I hope you die!" I shouted at his fleeing back. The soldiers who had stood back chased after him and I left him to them, going to Gaara's side.

I hugged his head to my chest, and rocked back and forth, "Sak-urrrr-a! Sak-urrrr-a! Where's Sakura, we need her!"

Temari finished smacking out the flames that had ignited on her dress hem from brushing too close to the fire and tried to talk some sense into me, "Ino, Sakura is in Osaka. She isn't anywhere near here."

Gaara was in Osaka. But, I didn't say that, instead I shouted, "Send for her! Someone go get Sakura! She has to save him!"

"Ino, listen, it will take too long for her to get here. It took us two months, and it will be double that since we'll have to send a messenger. Calm down, take deep breaths. We will send for a doctor," she said, her voice soothing.

I nodded and quit shouting. The soldiers returned empty handed and talked with Temari in low voices, but I didn't pay attention to any of that. Gaara gripped my hand weakly and I told him over and over, like a little mantra, "I love you. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before, but I love you so much."

Why had it taken injury to be able to say it? Now that I had, I couldn't stop. I kept saying it until an old lady showed up seemingly out of nowhere. With the Akatsuki burning down all of the villages, I wondered how they possibly found her. Even then, I thought it over and over in my head.

The woman introduced herself as Chiyo and gently pulled me away from Gaara. I hovered while she worked on him, repeating my mantra in my head like it was crucial in the healing process. I watched intently, not even looking away when she probed the wound for any unwanted objects or when she began to sew him up.

I watched closely as she gave him an herbal mix to put him to sleep and watched as his eyes drooped and he slipped unconscious. She measured out more herbs and handed them to me in a bag she tied up.

"Give these to him once a day in a brew to keep the fever away," she said.

When I collected myself enough to thank her later, I couldn't find her. It was like she was an angel, appearing like a miracle and then gone once she was no longer needed.

Temari saw me searching and gave my shoulder a squeeze, "It looks like he'll be alright."

"I am so glad," I said, breaking down and crying finally.


	45. I Count you Twice

**Chapter 44: When I Count my Blessings I Count you Twice  
**_(In which the Princess gives a blessing and receives a blessing)_

**Note: With the danger of sounding very lame and cliched, I would like to say that you reviewers are among my blessings. Thank you all so much. :)**_  
_

"Ino?"

I squinted against the setting sun, seeing the shadowy figures of several men standing with their backs to the horizon. One at the forefront, the one who had spoken to me, slouched in a familiar way. He stepped closer and I was able to make out the shape of spiky hair and a lazy smirk.

I spread my arms wide and ran, "Shikamaru!"

He held out his own hands in time to catch me as I launched myself at him.

"Ino," he said again, laughing and patting my hair.

"I missed you! I have so much to tell you about!" I told him, inexplicably getting teary eyed. I squeezed him tightly before pulling away and holding him at arms' length to get a better look at him. For the first time, I noticed that he was wearing armor. Nice armor at that. "Look at you! What's with the fancy armor? When did you become a soldier? Is that why you're here?"

He dismissed my questions with a wave of his hand and said, "You go first, Princess."

I scowled because he knew that I hated when he called me Princess. Back when he was basically my only friend, he was the only one I could count on talking to me like a real person.

He chuckled at my expression and ruffled my hair affectionately, "Go ahead. You've always wanted an adventure, so tell me about it. I'm eager to hear."

Forgiving him easily, I caught his arm in my grasp and pulled him along, "Let's walk and I'll tell you everything."

And, I did. Well, mostly everything. I told him about my time with the Akatsuki, my escape into the river, Gaara's rescue. The trip to Osaka – even my midnight trip to the beach with Gaara and when I kissed him on the cheek – and meeting Lord Naruto. Deidara's and Haya's attacks. I talked fast, afraid to bore him with my long story. He listened with a calm, measured expression. Like usual, he was going to wait until I had said everything before he made any judgments.

I sought his approval, especially when I told him about Youjo. After I was completely sure that Gaara was okay, I sat outside the tent with my face in my palms, lost in thought. I can't recall what I was thinking about at that moment, only that I was feeling really distraught and disjointed.

Youjo had appeared before me out of nowhere. With a small wail, she hugged my knees tightly and buried her face in the dress material covering my lower thighs. I stroked her curls, sorry that I had worried her with my disappearance. She had already lost her mother and now would cry heartbreakingly whenever I was out of her sight, terrified of losing anyone else.

I pried her arms away from my legs and pulled her onto my lap. I rubbed her back and sang in a low voice, "I'm here, Youjo. I won't leave you."

I made up more words to the song. It didn't rhyme or really flow together well, but it seemed to work. Gradually her sobs died down until, besides the occasional hiccup, she was quiet in my arms. I thought she had fallen asleep, but she tilted her head to look up at me with big hazel eyes still glimmering with tears.

"Mama," she said, simply, clutching my dress in her small fists. In case I didn't hear or understand her the first time, she repeated, "Mama."

I froze for a moment, thinking about the consequences. If I let her call me Mama, then if anything were to happen to me, it would be like losing her mother all over again. I didn't think such a fragile, young girl could withstand the pain. And, if her mother was still alive, it would be strange to find your daughter already calling someone else Mama.

But, if she already considered me worthy to call Mama, then she would already have the feelings to be crushed if something happened. Plus, if I didn't take care of her, then who would? We could deal with the awkward situation of running into her real Mama if and when it happened.

So, instead of correcting her, I said, "Yes, Mama."

She smiled and closed her eyes, the tension easing out of her face as she fell asleep. The swelling, flooding feeling in my chest enforced the idea that my choice was the correct one. I would never go back on my decision. As far as I was concerned, Youjo was now my daughter.

After that, she took to calling me Mama all the time and I took to answering. She would follow me around the camp, asking 'Why, Mama?' about nearly everything and asking if she could help. The first time the others of my company witnessed this, I expected them to say something or ask me why I allowed it, but I remembered that they had lost their own mothers and understood that every child deserved a parental figure. **

I found that thinking she was quiet was a mistake, because she had only needed to warm up to the company before she babbling to everyone who would listen. After me, her two favorite people were Kankurou and Gaara. She liked Temari and Matsuri well enough, but she never did much more than tolerate them holding and cooing at her.

I would often find her sitting at Kankurou's feet, her face transfixed as he retold her favorite stories. She really loved silly ones where animals could talk and would trick their owners. There were a few that she had heard so often that she would correct him if he said different words or messed up the sequence, even if it was just a tiny bit.

With Gaara, she would climb into his lap and smile up at him with an easy trust he must appreciate after the past he's had. I love watching them together…how gentle he was with Youjo and how she would sneak up and tackle him when we happened upon him in the camp.

Sometimes when seeing their interactions I would feel an intense urge to throw myself at him and shower him in kisses. I never did though. I was careful not to show affection in front of Sasuke. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him more than I already have.

What I didn't want to tell him about was a recent conversation with Gaara. I had told him enough about Gaara that Shikamaru should understand my feelings for him, but this last thing I kept reserved felt like something more personal and special. I wanted to hug it tight to my chest and never let it go.

Gaara and I were sitting next to the fire, lingering after everyone else had already gone to bed. I got up and settled closer to him. I drew my legs up to my chest and leaned against him lightly, "How is your side?"

"Good," Gaara answered. "It's almost as if I hadn't been injured."

"I'm glad," I said. Gaara wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer against his side. I returned his embrace, hugging him sideways and resting my thighs across his. It was safe to affectionate with him, because Sasuke was in bed. And, even if he was spying on us instead, then shame on him. That's his own fault for being nosey.

"Were you going to say yes to Deidara?" Gaara asked. He was never one to beat around the bush or be indirect. I knew and liked that about him, but even though I was expecting it, I was still caught off guard.

"I really didn't want to. He is probably one of the very last people I would ever want to marry," I said. "But, I didn't want to be selfish. I knew my people counted on me, and I will admit that I was considering saying yes. I'm glad you came in when you did."

"Do you think Deidara would really watch out for your people?"

I thought about that for a moment, "No."

Gaara looked up at the starry sky and sighed. "The leader of the Akatsuki, Pein, is a king. His kingdom, Iwakuni, is their base and who we waged war against. At the moment, your father and his allies are fighting them and Orochimaru's force."

I remembered Sasuke saying that Orochimaru was the king of Bicchu and his allies were the nearby kingdoms of Kakegawa and Nagoya. "Who are the leaders of Kakegawa and Nagoya?"

He turned to look at me, perhaps surprised that I knew about the kingdoms and I said, "What? I'm not completely ignorant."

"I never said you were," he said with that slight smile he sent my way often. "Lord Juugo is Kakegawa. And, the leader of Nagoya is none other than Karin."

I scowled, "I don't like that woman."

Gaara drummed his fingers on my arm and hummed his agreement. Resting my chin against his chest, I gazed up at him, "Thank you for saving me. You're always saving me. I tried to get stronger so I don't have to rely on anyone, but it didn't change anything. I'm still a damsel in distress."

"There's nothing wrong with relying on people," he said.

I snorted, "That's easy for you to say, you never have to rely on people."

"Being strong is lonely and difficult," Gaara said. "Being someone to rely on makes it worth it. But, even then you need to rely on someone. I rely on my family. I rely on you."

"How?"

He shrugged his shoulders, but when he saw that I was not going to let him get away with the vague gesture, he answered, "I rely on you all to not think of me as a monster. To love me."

Gaara was avoiding looking at me, something he tended to do when he admitted things. He hadn't been grown in a nurturing environment and, I knew from regarding him and his siblings and what Temari had told me, they were taught to keep their feelings to themselves. Anything they shared or exposed was used against them. The love of an uncle, a close friend, a spoken desire; these things were watched and studied and made into weapons.

I reached up and turned his chin gently with my hand. When his eyes met mine, I said, "I love you."

His eyes softened and his expression opened as his mouth eased into that small smile, "I love you, too."

"So much," I tightened my hug. "More than anything."

"Will you wait for me?" he asked, his gaze running over my face. "I want to marry you. Will you wait until I can?"

I looked at him closely, looking for any signs he wasn't being entirely earnest. He stared back, his heart in his eyes. My voice was tremulous when I said, "Yes, I will wait."

He turned his body to align with mine and buried his face in the curve of my neck. I cradled his head with shaking fingers, crying for the happiness. "Forever, if that's what it takes."

Then, he kissed me.

No, I couldn't tell Shikamaru about this. It was just too…intimate. It my memory to keep. So, clasping my hands behind my back and glancing up at him, I concluded, "And, that's everything. What do you think? Would it make a good novel? What do you think of Youjo?"

He paused for a long time before answering. If it were anyone else, I would have gotten annoyed, but I am long accustomed to his antics. After he had considered everything I had told him and probably several different scenarios for the choices I had made, he answered, "I think your story ought to be written down. You've certainly gotten the adventure you hoped for."

"More than I hoped for. And, more than I wanted," I said, thinking about Matsuri's legs and a few other things I wished had never happened. I would never take back my adventure, though. So much had come from it. "Now I can return home and be content."

"For a little while," Shikamaru said with a wry grin. "Then, the thrill of adventure and travel would call you and you'd be gone again."

"Don't say something like that. You're usually right," I admonished. "And, you didn't answer my question about Youjo."

"I think you made the right decision. She's happy and so are you," he said. We had completed a full circle about the circumference of the camp and were just starting on our second. "Are you planning on officially adopting her?"

"As soon as I return home," I said.

"Would that be wise? You are unwed, and if you are reported to have a daughter…well, that would give people the wrong idea. You might turn away suitors," Shikamaru said.

I raised an eyebrow at him, knowing what he was really asking me. I had explained pretty much everything, including when my father told me that I didn't necessarily have to marry Shino. What he really wanted to know was if Gaara had asked for my hand yet or not.

"I know you Shikamaru," I said, moving to walk backwards in front of him. "I know that you're really curious about the level of my relationship with Gaara. Well, all you had to do is ask. He has asked me to marry him, when he is able to. He won't care if I've adopted Youjo. They are close already."

I stopped walking and fixed him with a stern glare, mostly because he had pried and I had given away a part of my precious memory, partly because I wanted to intimidate him into listening to me. "I trust you, Shikamaru. Please do not tell anyone else. If his father hears of our engagement, he will cause a great deal of trouble for us."

"I promise my silence," Shikamaru said without hesitance. His face was so honest and straightforward. I knew I could always trust him.

I smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Shikamaru. Now, please tell me all about what you've been up to."

Shikamaru tapped the metal chainmail adorning his arm with a lazy, begrudging pride, "I've been promoted. Your father asked me advice about a couple of things regarding the war and was impressed with my responses. I am now a general."

I was glad to see him proud of something. Normally he tried to appear nonchalant about his achievements, as if acknowledging them would only bring him more work.

"Congratulations," I said. "You are the leader of these men you came with?"

"Yes I am."

"I'm so proud of you. Now that you're a fancy military man, have you found yourself a lady friend? Will I be hearing of an engagement anytime soon?" I pressed, smirking when he rolled his eyes.

"Right before I head off to war is hardly the right time to settle down," Shikamaru said.

"It could be your last chance," I said with a shrug.

"Don't tempt fate, Ino," he said.

I laughed and pinched his cheek at his seriousness. "Nothing will happen to you. You're much to smart. If you want, I'll give you a blessing."

He studied me, as if to check if I were joking. I was half joking, but upon seeing his expression, I swept my hand in a grand gesture and commanded him to kneel.

Shikamaru got down on one knee and hung his head. I put my hand in his hair and said the official, royal blessing bestowed on family. After I finished, he knelt for a few moments longer before standing up.

He seemed very embarrassed and touched, so I changed the subject, "Come with me, I will introduce you to my new friends. On the way, tell me more about what you've done while I've been gone."

_**During the time period, mortality rates were up. With diseases, lack of medical technology, and the difficulties of child birth, it was common to be without at least one parent, if not both. Also, all of those in the company are known to have lost their mothers in the actual Naruto plot excepting Ino._


	46. Long, Long Goodbye

**Chapter 45: Long, Long Goodbye  
**_(In which the Princess receives an emotional letter)_

**Note: One more chapter to go and then it's sequel time! Woo! I have big plans for the sequel, so be excited! (:**_  
_

"Lady Ino!"

I paused, holding a bundle of my clothes and getting ready to head to the river. I had unfortunately gotten caught in a prank Matsuri had intended for Temari that involved itching powder and the opening of carriage doors. Now, I was wearing my night dress and hoping to wash all traces of the evil substance from my clothing.

"Lady Ino," a man called, running up to me. I waited for him, trying to look as dignified as I could in my pajamas and struggling to keep from scratching my skin. He held out a letter, breathless, "You have a letter."

"A letter? From who?" I asked, taking the proffered document and wondering who could possibly be sending me a letter.

"The seal is from Hirosaki," the man supplied. I turned the letter over and confirmed that it was, indeed, from Hirosaki. The seal was pressed in a light pink wax, the image of two sakura trees bending in towards each other so that the leafy tops were touching. Between the tree trunks were the words _Our flower is one that blooms first and wilts last_.

Hirosaki. The kingdom famous for its beautiful dyes and sakura trees. The trees that were Sakura's namesake. I turned the letter back over and looked up to see the man watching me expectantly.

"I…," I said, tucking the document away into the pocket of my nightdress. "I will read it later."

The man startled, as if he didn't realize that he had been staring, and quickly bowed before hastily walking away. I watched him go without bothering to hide my amusement and continued my journey to the river.

We had been following the river back to Kumamoto and were within a week of the castle. I was so excited to be home at long last, but also fearful. What if I returned only to fall back into the old Ino? Naïve, innocent, and spoiled? What if Gaara went off to war and didn't return for me?

I shook my head as if I could shake the worries from my mind. Gaara wasn't one to make offers or promises lightly. If he said he would marry me, I know that he would. Like my father had said, things would work out.

I wanted to hold on to my bliss, so I pushed all the worries and the matter of Sakura's letter to the back of my mind. It worked so well that I even hummed a merry tune while scrubbing the powder from my clothing.

When I was done, I wrung the dress out and hung it up. Clapping my hands together, I was pleased that here I was, _Princess Ino,_ and I was cleaning my own clothes and hanging them up. I was so independent. Doing my own work was rewarding.

Lying back on the river bank, I felt even more proud when I realized that I had been dressing myself the entire trip. No wonder my mother had kept a garden that she wouldn't anyone else work in. It was nice to have something to do that was your own.

Maybe my father would let me take over the garden when I returned. I wasn't going to let him coop me up in the castle any longer. I would also like to do more to make life in the kingdom better for the commoners.

"I thought I would find you here."

I sat up quickly in surprise and saw Gaara standing at the tree line. I recovered quickly and patted the ground next to me, "Are you leaving?"

"Soon," he answered, settling beside me. "Sasuke is deciding who will go where and the company is packing up."

I was glad that he had sought me out to say goodbye. Before the night was over, he would be leaving with Sasuke, Kankurou, Shikamaru, and a great deal of the troops to join my father in marching against the Akatsuki.

Apparently, they had intercepted a note from the Akatsuki and knew where they were gathering. I would be arriving home to a mostly empty kingdom. My father and many of his men had already moved out and Shikamaru was joining him now.

I wished I could have seen him before he left for battle, but I couldn't control everything. And, at least Lady Fate was nice enough to me to let me see Gaara before he departed.

"Temari told me about the itching powder," Gaara said. Reminded of the substance, my skin started to tingle. I resisted for a few minutes before giving up and scratching. Gaara smiled and helped me scratch where I couldn't reach on my back.

I didn't let on when it stopped itching and his scratching eased into rubbing. Content to lay my head in his lap while he massaged my back I said, "I'm glad you came and found me."

"I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye," Gaara said. I thought my face might break from smiling so widely. When we got married, we would have many moments like this. Too many to count. That thought would be enough to sustain me while I waited at the castle for him to return.

"Thank you," I said. I watched the river flow by, noting the sunlight dancing in the ripples as the water split around a large rock. Though I was trying not to think of it, Sakura's letter resurfaced in my thoughts again. I wiped my hands on my skirt, they were clammy suddenly for some reason, "I received a letter from Sakura today."

"I know," he said. "I saw the messenger and sent the letter with one of our men. Have you read it yet?"

"No," I answered. I looked away from the river and saw that his face was carefully blank. "I am reluctant to read it."

"Because she hurt you?"

"Because she hurt Matsuri. I don't know if I could ever forgive her. And, she would have killed me," I said.

Gaara tucked some of my hair behind my ear and reminded me, "But, she didn't."

I had told him about everything that I had happened and had been said that night before he and Sasuke showed up to rescue us. He had listened to the whole account with an impassive face, not passing any judgments much like he was now.

"I'm afraid to read it," I admitted, taking his hand. He squeezed mine reassuringly, giving me courage to continue, "I'm afraid that it will only make me angrier. That it'll hurt me more. She's already betrayed me once."

He pulled me close to him, tucking my head under his chin. I clutched tightly to his the back of his shirt, thankful for his support and said, "What scares me the most, though, is that I'll forgive her."

There was a long silence. I started to think that maybe he wasn't going to say anything, that maybe he didn't know what to say, then he said, "You don't have to read it. You can just toss it into the river. Or, hold onto it and read it much later when you're ready."

I pulled away from him and turned toward the river to consider this option. I was really tempted to drop it and watch the ink smear as the current pulled it away. But, the voice of reason spoke up, an annoying small voice in the back of my head that reminded me that this would only be hiding from my problem. Sakura would still be there with her words afterwards and she wasn't so easy to dispose of.

Not turning to look back at him, I held the letter up and said, "You read it."

He paused, but then took the letter. There was the noise of him breaking the seal and sliding the letter out from the envelope. I stretched out on the grass beside him and continued to watch the water currents rushing past. For something so scary, it sure was beautiful.

"Dear Ino," Gaara started. He cleared his throat, "I know I am probably the last person you want to hear from. I appreciate that you opened the letter and are giving me this unearned chance to explain myself. Not give excuses, but just to tell you what I was thinking when I did all of these things. I would understand if you did not want to know these things and if you destroyed this letter now without completing it, I would not blame you."

He stopped to give me a chance to quit the letter if that was my choice. I waved my hand to urge him to continue, thinking that I might regret not reading this someday. I would always wonder what it said.

"I will try not to waste any of your time, so I will tell my story as quickly as I can. I am not really sure where to start, so I will begin with telling you something I suspect you already know: That I am in love with Sasuke. From an early age I began to suspect that Sasuke held a great deal of affection for you. Before I even met you, I already knew you perfectly because he talked about you often.

"To be honest, though I considered you to be a very close friend of mine, a small part of me was very resentful to you for beating me to Sasuke's heart. When I returned home after my short visit, I missed the time I got to spend with you, but I was also relieved to be out of your presence. I did not much like to see you and Sasuke together. It hurt. Being friends with your rival is extremely difficult."

I remembered my initial dislike for Matsuri when I thought she was moving in on Gaara and the others, even though it was technically the other way around since she'd known them way longer. Pressing a hand to my forehead in frustration, I closed my eyes. This was exactly what I didn't want. I couldn't hate Sakura with an angry, blaming passion if I was able to relate with her. Compassion was really bothersome sometimes.

"So, I continued to try and win Sasuke's favor when you were not around. His aunt's estate was close to mine, so I would work on him when he visited. After the incident happened with his family, he became very distant to me. Once again I was hurt, but this time I was also relieved to see that he was distant with you, too.

"Over the years I became confident that I was becoming closer and closer to your level. I knew that your father was parading many suitors for you and that Sasuke did not seem to be actively courting you. I thought perhaps I might have surpassed you in his heart. When I heard that you were betrothed to Lord Shino, I could not have been happier.

"Goodness, I sound so heartless, but these are my true reactions. I have come to realize that I am a despicable person. I am so sorry for all the pain I have caused you. This next part is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. Sasuke came to me, visited the castle, to tell me that you had gone missing. He begged me to come along with him, to help him find you and heal you when we did.

"Seeing him standing there, his love for you clearly shining in his expression, everything became dimmer. As if the world was losing its color. It seems so dramatic now, but I really thought I could see my life caving in around me. I could not imagine a future where I was not married to Sasuke.

"With a heavy heart, I agreed to go with him and help him. Not that I had any real desire to help him find you, but because I wanted to be with him. If I traveled with him, I would get to see him every day.

"As fate would have it, that week I had a visitor. She was a queen from up further north, and I was trying to expand my trade that way. I did not like her all that much, but my kingdom really needed the money so I asked her to stay for a while. I bet you can guess who the visitor was."

I could.

"It was Lady Karin," I predicted.

"My guest was Lady Karin," Gaara confirmed, continuing the letter. "She had picked up on my depression. One thing you ought to know about Lady Karin is that she is a master at reading human emotion. She knows just the words to say to manipulate you.

"She caught me in my moment of weakness and twisted the already dark thoughts in my head. If you were gone, there would be nothing to stand in my way to Sasuke. If I could pretend to help find you and be there to console him when he lost you forever, then we could form a close bond.

"When I became suspicious and asked her why she wanted me to make sure you were never found alive, she revealed to me that she too aspired to marry Sasuke. If we could just get you out of the way, then we could fight fairly over him.

"I do not know what I expected from the start. If she was willing to kill you, what would she do to get me out of the way afterwards? Lady Karin is used to getting her way and is prepared to achieve her will despite the cost.

"But, her words had planted in my head, and as I dwelled on it more, I came up with my own secret plan. I would pin the blame on Lady Karin. Who was Sasuke more inclined to believe? Me, the woman he's known since childhood, or this sneaky Lady Karin who he hardly knows.

"I told her that I was in and she told me that I needed to send my people after you. They are the best in the region and Tero is one of the most skilled fighters. I knew immediately that she would try to blame everything on me by making me do her dirty work. I wasn't stupid. But, I felt safe with the knowledge that I knew she was going to try and backstab me when she had no idea I had the same thoughts.

"So, when I sent my men to find you, I had them dress like Karin's men," Gaara paused in reading the letter. "That explains why I didn't recognize them when they attacked our camp. I have fought against her before, but Karin is much farther north."

I didn't say anything, shocked into silence by the depth of Sakura's cunning and desperation. She would go so far…risk so much…to ensure that she got Sasuke. Sacrifice her good name and her morals to make sure she was with him. Murder someone she considered a friend.

Gaara put his hand on mine, his completely engulfing my smaller one, and returned to the letter. I closed my eyes and focused on his voice. "They tracked you down, but failed to complete the plan. I didn't chance to meet up with them until a few days before I ran into you by Osaka.

"Seeing you in person made caused my determination to falter. I felt joy at the sight of you and relief that you were safe. My friendly feelings towards you won out until Sasuke removed his helmet and looked at you with an expression I had never seen on him before. Love."

I frowned. I remembered that day, it had been just after Gaara found Kankurou teaching me sword fighting. I remembered seeing Sakura and her being glad to see me. But, I don't remember Sasuke looking at me with love. His expression had been the same as always. Maybe there had been a little relief, but not much.

"I was prepared to contact Tero and tell him to hurry and finish his job, but then I saw you look at Gaara."

Gaara paused momentarily at this. I could feel his gaze on me, but I felt embarrassed so I covered my face with my arm. He knew that I loved him, but to hear him talk about how I loved him - even when he was reading someone else's words - made my face blaze.

"From the story you'd told us about Gaara saving him, how your voice warmed when you said his name, and seeing you guys together…I had very strong suspicions that you were in love with him. There were rumors going around, however, that you were engaged to marry Sasuke.

"If there was even a chance that you would take Sasuke, I…I would do whatever it took to ensure that I would be the one he married. The plan was still in full swing. I let Haya take more of an active role so that once again the blame would fall solely on Lady Karin. She paid a stable boy to sabotage your training, leaving me with the perfect opening to end you.

"Throughout the process of mixing the poison, I fought with myself. I could plan your death, but I could never envision it actually happening or actually doing the steps. I felt immense guilt. And, then you told me that you were not going to marry Sasuke and that you were deeply in love with Gaara."

I peeked at Gaara's expression and saw that he appeared amused. I removed my arm from over my eyes, ignoring the swelling embarrassment, and gave his hand a squeeze. I was going to marry this man, so what did I have to be embarrassed about? I ought to be pleased that my love was apparent to everyone and that no one would ever have any reason to question it.

"It's true, you know," I said. "I love you more than anything else."

"I know," he responded. "The feelings are mutual."

I wrinkled my nose, "The feelings are mutual?"

I recognized the face he made. It was the face I often made when I had been studying with Shikamaru and he knew that I knew that he knew that I knew the answer and he would make me say it anyway. It was that face, the 'Do I Really Have to Say it, we Both Already Know' face, mixed with the 'You Are Silly' and the 'God, I Really Love You' face.

"I love you more than anything else, too," he said.

That's better. I couldn't hide the satisfied smirk.

"And?" I asked, seeing what else I could get him to say.

"And…I would do anything for you. I would face the wrath of my dad to marry you. I would sell my own sister if you asked me to," he said with a straight face. A little too straight.

I gave him a hard look and asked with wonderment, "Are you teasing me?"

"Hm," Gaara said. He _was_ teasing with me! It was nice to be shown a side of him that not many others had the good fortune to see. That was more special to me than him saying he loved me, because he was _showing_ me he loved me. He flourished the letter in the hand that wasn't holding mine and returned to reading it, ignoring my question.

"I believed you and decided, last minute, to throw out the mixture and legitimately heal you. Haya wasn't very happy about that, as you may recall. The next day, I thought to test what you said. When a person looks at someone they are attracted to, oftentimes the pupils of their eyes will enlarge.

"So, I paid attention and confirmed that you indeed were attracted to Gaara and that he returned the feelings. But, when you looked at Sasuke, while his dilated for you, your pupils remained very much the same.

"When I discovered that, I ought to have backed out of the plan immediately and revealed Haya and Lady Karin. That's when I made my second biggest mistake. I was troubled by the fact that Sasuke's pupils dilated for you and didn't for me at all. Even though you had no interest in him romantically, you were still a threat.

"By going through with the plan, no matter how hesitant I was, only made you more of a threat. Because, you see, now Sasuke will never marry me. He told me so himself. When Haya had been tortured for information, she had revealed the whole plan, including my part. I tried to explain myself, but he wouldn't listen. I told him that you didn't love him, but he didn't want to believe me.

"He plans to ask for your hand in marriage soon. I can't help it…but I still hope that someday he will change his mind and marry me. I promise that I will never turn on my morals again. That does nothing but hurt everyone involved. I hope you can understand how sincerely sorry I am and maybe someday you can accept my apology and we can be friends once again.

"I am so sorry for the pain I have caused you. Love, Sakura."

Gaara folded back up the papers of the letter and slid that back into the envelope.

"Sasuke did ask me to marry him," I said. I had wanted to tell him so many times before, but I didn't know how to bring it up naturally in the conversation. I didn't think Gaara would be angry or jealous that he had asked me, but I was worried that it would cause things to be awkward among the camp. Or, more awkward than it already was because of my rejection.

Gaara was quiet, looking at me expectantly to continue. So, I told him about the night he had proposed and the time after that. When I finished, Gaara surprised me by looking angry. I was so sure he would take this news with his typical calm.

"Sasuke has been acting like a child. That is no way to treat a lady, even if that lady has rejected you," Gaara said.

I nearly sighed in relief. I didn't want to give Gaara any reason to be jealous. I wanted him to believe that I would never give my affections to any other man.

"Gaara, it's really okay. He will marry someone else and it will all be in the past. Please don't say anything to him about it," I said, surprising myself, now, with my maturity.

He didn't seem happy, but agreed to not bring the subject up to the brooding, dark haired man.

Smiling, I stood up and checked the progress of my drying dress. The fabric was a bit stiff, I think I used too much soap, but it was dry enough to wear.

"Better?" Gaara asked after I returned from changing. He was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a fond expression. I took a moment to burn this image into my memories. This would be all I had to remember him while he was gone.

"Much, thank you," I answered. My pace slowed when I realized that this was it. This was the goodbye. When I stood in front of him, I looked down at his boots, willing myself not to cry.

"Ino," he said. "This isn't goodbye forever."

"I know," I said. _I hope_ I thought secretly to myself.

Gaara gently put his hand under my chin and tilted my head to look up at him. He kissed my forehead. "I promise."

"I know."

"Be safe," he said, taking my hand. He pulled away my clenched fingers and placed a delicate silver ring in my palm. I gasped and held it closer to examine it. There was a phrase engraved in the metal from another language.

"What does it say?"

"It means protection. There isn't an exact translation, but it's like…protection in my absence. And, you're in my thoughts."

I slipped the ring on my finger and held it up to admire it. "Thank you, it's beautiful."

Untying my necklace, I removed my mother's ring. I turned it between my fingers and looked at the familiar ivy plant designs etched on the outside and my own name on the inside before giving it to him. A ring for a ring.

He took it, but it was too small to fit on his finger, so he promised to find a chain and wear it around his neck.

Gaara walked me back to the camp and then left with the men. I touched the ring as I watched the company get smaller and smaller in the distance, glad that I had something more than memories to keep of him while he was gone.

I couldn't wait until this was all over and I would never have to say goodbye to him again.


	47. Home Again

**Chapter 46: Home Again  
**_(In which the Princess goes home and waits)_

**Notes: -Fanfare- Finale time!**_  
_

"Father, I need to talk to you about something very important. So please, let me have my say and tell me what you think at the very end," I said, spinning around and around the ring Gaara had given me.

"When we were back in Osaka, you told me about how you met Mother and encouraged me that everything would work out. I fear there was a misunderstanding between us. You see," I paused, considering how to eloquently express my thoughts, "I thought you meant one person when you meant someone else entirely.

"You meant Sasuke. I didn't realize that until Sasuke asked for my hand in marriage. He told me that he was the only who could break my engagement with Lord Shino. You ought to have been clearer with your words, Father, because I thought you meant Gaara.

"I'm in love with Gaara, Father. He's the only one I want to marry and I refuse to marry anyone else. If you won't let me marry him…then I will live the rest of my life as an old maid. You know how stubborn I am. I really will. But, before you say anything…before you say no…think about it. Gaara has land down South, that would help us expand our trade, and is the strongest person I've ever met. He's saved me countless times by now. And, he makes me happy.

"You want me to be happy, Father, right?" I concluded. I turned around and looked at the figure sitting in the chair by the window. "Well, what did you think?"

"Good, Mama!" Youjo exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Do you think he will listen?" I asked, leaning down to her level.

She appeared deep in thought for a moment and then said, "Yes. If he don't, then he's mean!"

"Thank you very much, Sweetie. But we say if he _doesn't_. Not _don't_. Can you say doesn't?"

"Doesn't."

"Very good. Now, do you want to go water the garden?"

"Yes!" she chirped, jumping out of the chair and rushing to the closet that housed our matching watering pails.

I watched her fetch them with a fond smile. Really, Youjo is what made waiting for everyone to get back bearable. It had been three months since I'd parted with Gaara and returned home with what was left of the guards and two months since Temari and Matsuri left. In that time, the earth had thawed and spring had come. Youjo and I mostly busied ourselves with tending the garden.

I had expanded it and planted more vegetables and fruits in place of some of the flowers. I loved flowers, but I had big plans of bringing food down to the nearby villages when the plants had grown and ripened. Watering it was big work. It often took Youjo and me an hour and a half just to water them all. The maids offered to help on several occasions, but I assured them that it was something we enjoyed doing.

If I didn't have the garden and caring for Youjo to occupy all my time, I might have gone crazy. I had never been good at waiting. My position in life hadn't given me much experience with the concept, and that only made it harder for me to bear now.

We walked down to the garden together, not bothering to stop and put our shoes on. I took Youjo's hand and said, "Youjo, I received a message this morning. Gaara, Kankurou, and the rest should be here by the end of the week."

"Yay!" she cheered, like I suspected she would. Then her pretty little face clouded over, "Why have they been gone for so long?"

I looked ahead, silent for a moment. How did one describe war to a child? I certainly didn't want to frighten her. Or worry her. I did that enough for the two of us.

She pulled on my hand, impatiently, "Mama? Why?"

"Let me tell you a story," I said. She nodded eagerly. Unlike Hiro who wasn't too fond of my made-up stories, she loved to hear them. I kneeled next to the first row of pea pods and watered them as I began my tale. "Once there were several families of wolves who lived deep in the heart of the woods.

"Sometimes, hunters would come into the woods and try to catch the wolves. They liked the wolves' fur, thinking it was beautiful and warm, and wanted to make coats. Because there are many hiding places deep in the woods, the hunters could only manage to catch one or two at a time."

Youjo, who had settled on the other side of the row, was so engrossed in the story that she stopped watering the plants.

"Traveling to where the wolves were took the hunters a long time and made them very tired, so they didn't make the trip very often. But, they weren't satisfied with how many coats they had. They were greedy and always wanted more, so they sat around the fire one night and tried to think of ways they could get the wolves all at once. Then, they wouldn't have to make the trip ever again.

"None of them came up with any good ideas that would work and they were about to give up when one of them nearly stumbled in the fire. He pulled himself back, startled, and moved as far away from the fire as he could. This gave him an idea. Fire was something everything tried to escape. If they burned the homes of the wolves, then they would be forced to leave the area. When the wolves ran from their dens, the hunters could snatch them all up. There would be no where left for them to hide.

"He told the other hunters this and they all agreed that it was a very good idea. They began to make plans right there, not noticing the blue jay nestled on the tree branch above them. Now, the blue jay is the tattle tale of all the animals. When she heard the hunters' awful plans, she rushed to the deep forest to warn the wolves.

"The wolves were angry and frightened, but they were also courageous. The strong males banded together and left to confront the hunters and protect their families. The hunters hadn't expected their attack and were all sleeping in the open around the fire. The wolves snuck into the camp and bit the hands of the sleeping hunters.

"When the hunters woke the next morning, they found that they couldn't use their hands anymore. Because of this, they couldn't shoot their guns or light matches. Without this ability, they couldn't hunt the wolves and so decided to return home, afraid the wolves would return and bite something else."

I tapped Youjo's nose twice with my index finger and asked, "Do you understand?"

She giggled, "Kankurou and Gaara are wolfs**?"

"They are. Don't you think they look like wolves? Kankurou has big teeth, don't you think?" I asked, illustrating fangs with downturned fingers.

"Haha, big teeth!" She giggled again, "Does that mean they're fighting bad men?"

I confirmed with a nod of my head, moving to kneel beside the next row.

"The bad men who burned my house? The ones with red coats?"

I stopped and studied her for a moment. Her hazel eyes were big and expectant, waiting for my answer. She didn't seem sad, just solemn and matter-of-fact.

"Yes, those bad men."

"Oh," she said. She stood up and dragged her still full watering pail over to where I sat. Climbing into my arms, she patted my shoulders and said, "I love you, Mama."

"I love you, too, Sweetie," I said.

"Can I tell you a story, now?"

Smiling, I hugged her close. In the three months Kankurou had been gone, Youjo often attempted to tell me the stories he had told her. She had had them memorized, but forgot details over time, until she was mainly making the stories up. "Go ahead; it's your turn now."

"Once there was a girl name Suzume. Mama called her little Suzy. She would say, 'You are so good, little Suzy' and, 'I love you so much, little Suzy.' She would tell little Suzy that one day she was going to grow up to be a tall and pretty girl. Little Suzy would be so pretty, that all the boys would come to her house and Mama would have to chase them away with a stick. Little Suzy would always smile and laugh because she was so happy.

"One day, lots of boys did come to her house. But, the boys didn't like little Suzy. They didn't like Mama or Papa either. They hurt them. They had sticks with fire on them and tried to burn the house. Papa didn't want them to and yelled at them, but they hit him with the sticks. He fell down and the fire got on his clothes. The fire on him got bigger like a campfire. Whoosh!

"Mama cried a lot and little Suzy was scared. Mama took little Suzy and put her in the backyard. She told Little Suzy to run far away. She said, 'You are so good, little Suzy, be good and run away.' She said, 'I love you so much, little Suzy, please run away.' Little Suzy was a good girl and ran away. The mean boys were touching the sticks to the houses and the fire was going on the walls. They would try to grab little Suzy when they saw her, but she was a fast runner.

"Little Suzy ran for a long, long time. She got really tired and couldn't run anymore. She stopped and cried because she was so scared. A boy with a pretty smile found her. Little Suzy screamed because she thought he was a bad boy. But, he wasn't. He was good. And, he picked little Suzy up and told her he was going to help her.

"He told her a story. A funny story about rabbits. Little Suzy liked him, so she stopped crying. He carried her to a pretty girl with long hair. The pretty girl with long hair held little Suzy and made her feel not scared. She was really nice. The pretty girl held her and rubbed her hair and sang songs to her.

"Little Suzy liked her. She called the pretty girl Mama and the pretty girl smiled. Little Suzy smiled also because she loved new Mama. New Mama sang pretty. New Mama took little Suzy to her house and told her about flowers and food. Little Suzy smiled and laughed because she was so happy again."

Youjo peered up at me, touching the tears on my cheeks, "That's the end, Mama. Do you understand?"

A laugh broke through my tears despite my heartache at her imitation of me, "I think I do, Sweetie. Are you little Suzy?"

"I am! You are so smart, Mama!" she chirped happily. Her voice was concerned when she asked, "Why are you sad, Mama? Was my story bad?"

"No, your story wasn't bad. Those boys were bad. I'm sorry you were scared," I answered.

"It's okay, Mama! I'm happy now! See?" she exclaimed, climbing down from my lap and frolicking amongst the peas and lettuce to illustrate how happy she was. "I want to live with you forever!"

"I want to live with you forever, too," I told her.

"Mama, if Kankurou and Gaara are wolfs, can I be the bird? I like birds! They can fly really high," she said, already moving on.

"You sure can," I said, absently.

I reflected on her story while we finished watering the expanded garden. Youjo…no, Suzume…her story broke my heart. She was strong for a little girl, but I was worried that there was damage beneath the surface that I couldn't see. Worried for her, I decided that I would keep a closer eye on her.

Suzume flitted around the garden, watering here and there, pretending to be a bird and warbling in her tiny falsetto voice. How fitting it was that she wished to be a bird; Suzume meant sparrow. Watching her reminded me of how I once envied the birds from my balcony and I hoped that she would always be free.

.o0o.

"Lady Ino, wake up. I have the most wonderful news!"

I stirred and stretched catlike beneath the blanket before forcing my reluctant eyes open. Beside me, Suzy uncurled and mimicked my stretch. Being away from me too long made Suzy nervous, so she slept with me. She would sometimes have nightmares and wake me in the middle of the night, clutching my nightdress. Those nights I would hum and rub her back until she fell back asleep.

Sitting up, I turned my attention to the elderly maid practically dancing with joy at the foot of my bed. Her good mood was infectious and I found myself grinning like an idiot as I asked, "What is it? Have they returned?"

"A soldier rode ahead this morning to let us know they would be here within the day!"

That really was the most wonderful news! I leapt out of bed and lifted Suzy up from under her arm pits, swinging her around in dizzily-fast circles. She giggled with delight when I released her and let her tumble back onto the bed.

"I can't wait to see them all!" I said, dancing happily over to the maid. "This calls for our best dresses and most sophisticated braids, don't you think?"

The maid clapped her hands and said, "Right away, Lady Ino!"

We prepared in a flurry of cheerful activity, talking animatedly about what we would say when we saw them. Suzy said multiple times that she was going to start calling Kankurou 'Big Teeth'. After we were finished getting ready, dressed to impress in the finest silks I owned, we waited in the main chamber impatiently.

"Are they here yet?" Suzy asked, for what had to be the millionth time.

"No, Sweetie, they aren't. The maid will let us know when they come, remember?" I reminded her as kindly as I could. The truth was, the waiting was killing me, too, and her constant questioning only seemed to stretch the time out longer.

"Oh, that's right," she said. She started humming to my great relief; it was a great deal more bearable than her questioning.

It was nearing lunch time and I was beginning to think I would crack when three things happened simultaneously. The first was Suzy getting fed up and demanded why they weren't there yet, the second was a horse's neigh drifting in through the window, and the third was the entrance of the excited maid.

Before the maid could even say anything, Suzy cheered and rushed out the door. I was close behind her and soon we were standing on the castle grounds, a group of weather-and-battle-worn men assembled proudly in front of us.

"Big Teeth!" Suzy cried, running straight for Kankurou.

I felt overwhelmed, seeing all these familiar faces after three months or – as was the case for some of them- longer had passed. So, I went down the line, hugging each of them as I greeted them.

"Lord Naruto! It's so good to see you! Are you staying long? And, look at you Shikamaru! You look even statelier in your armor than the last time I saw you! I missed you! And, you, Kankurou! Big Teeth? Why, that's because you're a wolf, of course! Father, I can't believe you left without saying goodbye! I was so worried! I have something I need to talk with you about later, so make sure to come find me. And," I paused, feeling like my heart was going to explode, "Gaara."

"Ino," he said.

I sniffled in attempt to hold back my tears.

"I missed you so much."

"I know, I missed you, too."

His hand wrapped around the delicate ring hanging around his neck and I had to wipe my sleeve furiously across my eyes. The others began to leave, to give us privacy I assume, and I noticed something.

"Where's Sasuke? He didn't…"

"No, he's perfectly fine. He said he had urgent business to take care of and that he'd been away for too long," Naruto answered.

I felt the tension in my shoulders ease away. All the people I cared about were accounted for and safe. I could rest easy now. They all left – my father glancing curiously back at Gaara and I – and then we were alone.

He dismounted and let a servant lead his horse away and I rushed into his embrace. I clung tightly to him as his arms came up around and enveloped me in his warmth and scent. I hadn't realized how incomplete I had felt in his absence until now.

"You aren't injured, are you? Did you get hurt at all?" I asked, pulling back to look him over quickly. He appeared to be whole and healthy.

"No injuries," Gaara confirmed with that small smile of his.

Relief washing over me for what had to be the third or fourth time that day, I hugged him again. With my cheek pressed against his chest I said, "I don't like waiting. It gives me too much time to worry."

"I know, I'm sorry," he said.

"If I didn't have Suzy, I might've lost my mind."

"Suzy?"

"Oh, that's right!" I said and quickly told him her story. "She told me earlier this week and I still sometimes call her Youjo on accident."

"Suzume," Gaara repeated. "A nice name."

"I think so, too. And, fitting. She thinks she's a bird," I said, not able to help the fond smile that came with thinking of the toddler.

He rubbed his palm against my cheek and down the side of my neck. I peered up at him and saw that his expression was solemn. Mirroring his expression, I asked, "How was it?"

'It' meaning the war, of course.

Gaara sighed and looked over my head as he answered, "Deidara is dead. So are Sasori and Hidan."

Shocked, I said, "I can't believe they're dead. It's hard to wrap my mind around Deidara no longer being a threat. It's…freeing."

"Sasuke was the one who killed Deidara. He was after him, it seems. When the battle started, he charged right at him and they got separated from the rest of us. No one saw the fight," Gaara said. "I'm sorry I wasn't the one to kill him for you."

"Don't be, it doesn't matter," I assured him. Then, curious, I asked, "Who killed the others?"

"Shikamaru killed Hidan. He gave us a lot of trouble and killed quite a few of our men before Shikamaru outsmarted him. That man is a genius," Gaara said, and I glowed in pride for Shikamaru. My long time friend was really making something out of himself and I couldn't be happier. "I was the one who killed Sasori."

"Sasori is the reason Deidara started being so harsh to me in the first place."

"I know."

Gaara's eyes suggested that he had been after Sasori specifically. He noticed me looking up at him and tucked my loose hairs behind my ear. "What are you going to talk to your father about, later?"

"I'm going to tell him that I want to marry you and only you. If our marriage doesn't work out, then I won't marry at all," I told him, relishing the reemergence of his small smile.

"You are even more beautiful than I remember," he said and I knew he meant more than just appearance-wise.

.o0o.

"…You want me to be happy, right?"

My father sighed heavily and leaned back in his overstuffed chair. A few hunting dogs were lying at his feet and one glanced up at his movement before resettling. "Ah, Ino."

"I'm completely serious," I said, setting my lip in determination.

"I know you are, Ino. You're like me," he said. "And, like me…I do want you to be with the person you love."

My heart jumped in my chest and I was afraid to be fully excited. "Father, are you saying I can?"

"I'm saying that you can break off the engagement with Lord Shino, but," he paused, giving me a hard look, "_you_ have to be the one to tell him."

I couldn't help making a face.

"Ino, you are a grown woman. You ought to take responsibility for what you want. That's my condition. And, you have to offer him something. He did help in the war. Make a trade, your promise of engagement for something equally good."

"Okay, I will."

"Good, now that that is settled, I have some news to share with you," he said, extracting his feet from under the dogs and standing at the window. He turned and gestured for me to join him, so I did.

"News?"

"Yes," he said. "But first, I have a question: Did Sasuke propose to you?"

"He did. I turned him down, because I love him like a brother. I can't love him the way he wants me to."

"I always thought you were in love with him. You were close as children."

I shrugged, "Maybe I would have, if things had turned out differently. As it is, I love Gaara and Gaara only."

"If you're sure," he said and I confirmed with a nod. "The news I have will startle you, so you might want to sit down."

Curious, I sat on the floor next to the window and leaned against the wall.

"Sasuke is going to marry Lady Tenten. He proposed and she's accepted."

I leapt up, spluttering, "Lady Tenten! But, she loves someone else! Why would she accept?"

"It seems that marrying Sasuke is beneficial for her kingdom," my father answered.

"Is this my fault?" I asked. "Will Tenten have to marry someone she doesn't love because of me?"

"She could come to love him," my father soothed.

"But, she already loves someone! Marrying the other man would also be beneficial to her kingdom! Father, you have to do something about this. Tell Sasuke he can't marry her," I begged.

"I can't, I have no authority over him."

"When will he be here next? I need to tell him to stop," I said.

"I don't know."

.o0o.

**Epilogue**

Adjusting the empty basket to a more comfortable position on my arm, I made my way up the pathway back to the castle. Skipping merrily next to me, Suzy sang a silly song about a farmer whose scarecrow came alive at night and danced around the town. Suzy was a singer, constantly warbling with her very pleasant voice.

Up ahead I saw Gaara waiting for me at the edge of the garden and quickened my pace.

"Suzy," I said, handing the basket to her, "could you be a doll and take this back to closet for me?"

Now that some of the crops had grown and ripened, we often walked down to the village and passed them out to all the families. It was nice to form friendships with the villagers and not be the annoying princess who turned down all the suitors with the potential to save our kingdom.

The young man who I had been trying to find that night still lived in the village and I learned his name was Konohamaru. He apologized profusely when he discovered that I had been the princess, but I had laughed him off. The better I got to know him, the more I thought he resembled Lord Naruto.

"Ino," he greeted. "How was your walk?"

"It was nice. Old Mr. Jun's fever has gone down," I said.

"That's good," he said and we started to walk together down one of the garden paths.

I clasped my hands behind my back and leaned in towards him, "Is something wrong? You seem agitated."

His expression appeared startled, but then smoothed as he pulled out a folded letter. "My father sent me a letter."

He handed it to me and I read it quickly. It was…friendly. How could a man who tried time and time again to murder Gaara sound so fatherly? It didn't make sense. That wasn't the most notable component of the letter, though.

It was…

"He wants us to visit him?"

.

.

.

**This was a purposeful error. I imagine since Suzy is three or four, she wouldn't have perfected English just yet.

**The sequel still doesn't have a title, so I can't tell you much more than just to watch out for it. It should be posted soon! I hope you guys are as excited as I am!**


	48. Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?

**I've the best news!**  
**The sequel has been posted!**  
**It is titled:**  
**To Hold the Wolf's Ears**  
**Go on and read it, Child!**

**Preview:**

I poked my padded stomach and frowned uncertainly, "I don't think this is right…"

Someone rapped their knuckles on the door, cutting off my thought. It was Kankurou.

"Are you decent?" he called.

I shook my head and started to say no, distractedly leaning in to examine my figure closer in the mirror. The sheets were pushing at the seams of my bodice in a way that made me nervous that I would break out of it at any moment. I definitely didn't want Kankurou or anyone to see me like this.

"Come in," the shorter maid shouted with a devilish smile I could see from the reflection of the mirror.

I swung around to face the maids, my jaw hanging open in shock. The taller of the maids shrugged and said, "She's new."

**I hope you all know that I'm very thankful! This story has the most reviews I've ever gotten and I enjoyed reading them all. I keep the email alerts I get and have saved them in a folder that I read when I'm feeling down. So, thank you so much.**  
**To display the extent of my appreciation to you, I will quote some poetry.**

_"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?_  
_Thou art more lovely and more temperate._  
_Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,_  
_And summer's lease hath all too short a date._  
_Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,_  
_And often is his gold complexion dimmed;_  
_And every fair from fair sometime declines,_  
_By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;_  
_But thy eternal summer shall not fade,_  
_Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,_  
_Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,_  
_When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st._  
_ So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,_  
_ So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."  
_Shakespeare, Sonnet 18

**Seriously, thank you!  
**


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